Romania’s governing party set to win election despite far-right resurgence
Al Jazeera
Left-leaning Social Democratic Party to hold parliament, but Alliance for Uniting Romanians makes big gains.
Romania’s governing left-wing party is set to keep its majority in parliament following general elections, but will face off against a resurgent far-right opposition with an increased number of seats.
Incomplete election results on Sunday showed the governing Social Democratic Party (SDP) with 24 percent of the vote and the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians with about 18 percent.
The National Liberal Party, a Christian democratic party and member of the SDP’s governing coalition, had 14 percent of the vote, and the reformist Save Romania Union was on 10 percent.
The election is on track to have the highest voter turnout for a parliamentary election in 20 years, with polling indicating that more than 52.3 percent of eligible voters – more than 9 million people – voted for their next prime minister and parliament, according to government figures.
Final results will not be known until election officials count ballots from the hundreds of thousands of Romanians who live abroad, who are expected to lean towards conservative parties.
