Romania’s ruling leftist Social Democrats (PSD) looked set to win the most votes in a parliamentary election yesterday, defeating a resurgent far-right movement challenging the country’s pro-Western orientation, an exit poll showed.The vote is the second of three consecutive ballots for both a new parliament and a new president, after the first round of the presidential election on November 24 saw an independent far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu, emerge from relative obscurity to become the frontrunner.His unexpected win ushered in support for ultranationalist, hard-right parties, some with overt pro-Russian sympathies, which political analysts said could undermine Romania’s backing for Ukraine.If the exit polls are confirmed by official results, a pro-western coalition led by the PSD would likely have enough seats in parliament to form a government, although the far-right would be a substantial force in the legislature.However, the exit polls do not include the votes of the hundreds of thousands of Romanians working abroad, who are expected to favour far-right groupings and a centrist opposition party led by presidential runner-up Elena Lasconi.In addition, a broad coalition would be difficult to form amid disagreements over the measures needed to rein in the country’s gaping budget deficit, now the highest in the EU at 8% of economic output.“The Social Democrats will take a few days and wait to be courted,” said political commentator Radu Magdin. “A coalition with centrist parties is more likely than with the hot potato extremists. And much depends on who becomes president.”Exit polls showed the PSD winning 26% of votes, ahead of the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians on 19%.Social Democrat Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had ranked third in the presidential ballot first round after a campaign dominated by voters’ concern over the cost of living and anger at mainstream parties’ infighting and corruption allegations.Who gets to form the government will depend on who wins the presidential election, since the president designates a prime minister, and the timeline for that is unclear.Romania’s top court on Friday postponed a decision on whether to annul the first round of the presidential vote until December 2, after the shock result caused suspicions of interference in the campaign.Romanian authorities say they have found evidence of meddling by hostile actors, and the Constitutional Court is yet to validate the results.The court has ordered a recount of the 9.46mn votes cast in the first round while also considering a request to annul the first-round vote.If a rerun is decided, the first round of voting in the presidential election could take place on December 15 and the runoff could be on December 29.
