Romania’s ruling party is determined to win the election despite the resurgence of the far-right | Election News

The left-leaning Social Democratic Party will hold parliament, but the Alliance for Uniting Romanian is making big gains.

Romania’s ruling left-wing party is expected to retain its majority in parliament after the general election, but will face a resurgent right-wing opposition party with an increased number of seats.

Inconclusive election results on Sunday showed the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) with 24 percent of the vote and the strong Alliance for Uniting Romanian with 18 percent.

The National Liberal Party, a Christian democratic party and member of the ruling SDP coalition, had 14 percent of the vote, while the reformist Save Romania Union was on 10 percent.

The election is poised to have the highest voter turnout in a parliamentary election in 20 years, as polls show more than 52.3 percent of eligible people – 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 votes from hundreds of thousands of Romanians living abroad, who are expected to lean toward conservative parties.

The election comes at a time of growing support for ultra-nationalist and anti-establishment groups that are challenging Romania’s pro-European Union and Ukraine positions under the current ruling coalition.

Romania is a member of NATO and has strongly supported Ukraine in its efforts to counter Russian aggression, including recently announcing plans to donate Patriot Missile Systems to its neighbor.

Other issues in the election campaign included Romania’s deficit, which at 8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is the highest in the EU.

Romanian voters last week surprised international observers by backing populist Calin Georgescu in the first round of voting for Romania’s next president.

Georgescu, 62, was predicted to win less than 10 percent of the vote, but he beat leftist reformist Elena Lasconi, 52, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, 57.

He will next face Lasconi in the second round of voting on December 8.

An independent, Georgescu was previously associated with the Alliance for Uniting Romanians and has attracted controversy for his praise of former ultra-nationalist and fascist Romanian leaders.

He also praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin, describing him as “a man who loves his country”, and described Ukraine as “an established country”, according to Romanian media.

Georgescu’s success is due, in part, to his successful use of the video sharing platform TikTok, where he has amassed 274,000 followers and over 3.7 million views.

During his campaign, he used the platform to argue that Romania, which shares a 650km (404-mile) border with Ukraine, should follow a “peaceful” path and end its involvement in the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine is a former country of the Soviet Union, while Romania was a so-called satellite country, which was influenced by the Soviet government in Moscow.

Georgescu’s online support has been scrutinized for unusual activity suggesting the use of bots ahead of the election by organizations such as Expert Forum, a pro-democracy think tank in Bucharest.

Lasconi warned voters that Romania is now “facing a historic conflict between preserving the democracy of young Romanians” and those who want to “return Romania to the Russian sphere of influence”.