Romania’s main opposition Social Democratic Party leads in parliamentary election ?

Romania’s main opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) is likely to win the parliamentary elections here, gaining 30.61 percent of the vote with 98.44 percent of the ballots counted, according to the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) data released early Monday morning.

The ruling National Liberal Party, generally favored by polls before the election, scored second with 26.08 percent of the vote. Other parties that crossed the 5-percent threshold required for parliamentary seats were the USR-PLUS Alliance with 15.41 percent, the Alliance for Unity of Romanians (AUR) with 9.17 percent and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) with 6.10 percent.

The results of the election have surprised many as they were somewhat different from predictions.

Apart from the fact that the ruling party failed to rank first in the election, the AUR, the dark horse of the current election, is particularly eye-catching. The nationalist party, founded just over a year ago, has not only seized some seats in the new parliament, but also got high votes of nearly 10 percent.

Under special protection measures including wearing a mask and maintaining social distance, Romania held the parliamentary election on Sunday amid COVID-19, with a total of 7,136 candidates competing for seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

In order to win the parliament, the parties need to obtain over 5 percent of the national votes or over 20 percent of the votes in at least four constituencies.