The result released by local poll agencies CURS and Avangarde showed that the public support of the Social Democrats had dropped significantly, with nearly 20 percentage points less in Sunday’s elections than the 45 percent in the national general elections two and a half years ago. The National Liberals won 5 percentage points more than the 20 percent they got in late 2016.
The votes lost by the main ruling party were mainly harvested by the Save Romania Union PLUS 2020 Alliance, whose support rose from less than 9 percent to 23.90 percent in two and a half years, almost neck-and-neck with the two largest parties in the country, showed the exit polls.
According to local analysts, the votes of the two right-wing opposition parties, the National Liberal Party and the 2020 Alliance, are likely to increase further, as the exit-polls did not include overseas voters, who are largely anti-social-democratic.
Other parties that may get European parliamentary seats are the Pro Romania Party led by former Prime Minister Victor Ponta (5.7 percent), the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (5.4 percent), the People’s Movement Party led by former President Traian Basescu (5.2 percent) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (4.9 percent).
The nationwide voter turnout in the elections for the European Parliament stood at 48.95 percent of the electors, while the turnout in the referendum, convened by President Klaus Iohannis, stood at 41.23 percent, according to the data recorded on the Central Electoral Bureau website.
President Klaus Iohannis stated that the turnout in the elections for the European Parliament and in the referendum was “sensational,” stressing that people “voted clearly and firmly for fair politics, for an independent judiciary, for a good governance for Romanians and Romania.”
“Following this result, the PSD (Social Democrat Party) government must go,” the president added.
In his turn, the Social Democrats’ leader Liviu Dragnea said that the results are not ones to “satisfy” the party, but he requested that “the prime minister not renounce her mandate. The governing program must be carried out until the end.”
Romania held elections for the European Parliament on Sunday, with 13 political parties and three independent candidates competing for the 33 seats of the eastern European country in the European legislative body.
The elections are not only a competition for the European seats by the various political forces of Romania, but also a new demonstration of their strength after the national elections at the end of 2016. It is also a prelude of the presidential elections at the end of the current year.
On the day of the election, the voters were also called to say “Yes” or “No” on questions related to anti-corruption and justice in a referendum.
