Romanian Left Wins General Election Amid Record Low Turnout

The Social Democratic Party, PSD, scored a surprise win in Romania's parliamentary elections on Sunday, which saw a record low turnout of voters amid the coronavirus pandemic.

After votes from over 99 per cent of the polling stations were counted, the PSD got 30 per cent of the vote, followed by the ruling, centre-right National Liberal Party, PNL, with 25 per cent.

Third came the centrist alliance USR PLUS with 14 per cent, followed rookie nationalist party Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR, which got into parliament with eight per cent of the vote using rhetoric about Romania's "sovereignty" and making protectionist promises for small businesses.

The other party to get parliamentary representation is the Democratic Union of the Hungarians of Romania, UDMR, which got six per cent as it does in virtually every poll.

Only 31.84 per cent of the electorate took part in Sunday's polls, a historic low in a legislative election in post-communist Romania.

PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu interpreted the vote as a message about the way the ruling party has responded to the pandemic.

He said it was a vote against "the closure of schools, the closure of markets, the closure of churches and the bankruptcy of thousands of companies" during the pandemic as well as "hundreds of thousands of unemployed people".

He insisted that prime minister and PNL leader Ludovic Orban must resign. The PSD chief also excluded seeking a grand coalition with the centre-right.

"We need a capable government that offers solutions," Ciolacu said.

One of Ciolacu's proposals for prime minister will be the Romanian representative at the World Health Organisation, Alexandru Rafila, a prestigious doctor who got a seat in parliament on the PSD...