Romania’s Rising Far Right Spies Golden Opportunity

Another major deterrent was that polling day was held on the same day as one of the most popular religious holidays in the country, the feast of St Nicholas, when many Romanians celebrate their name-day.

Despite the claims of President Klaus Iohannis that there was no clear winner of the election, there were, in fact, only losers and just one big winner.

The first major loser was the Social Democrats, PSD, who after losing two elections in the last year decided to go under the radar and for once not stir up voters against it right before elections.

But, even though it eliminated some of its most controversial members from the lists and refrained from the old dirty political attacks, its support fell from 45 per cent in the last parliamentary elections to just 29 per cent today.

After losing a lot of city halls in late October, with a divided leadership and with health restrictions preventing much direct interaction with the voters, the party found it hard to rally support. Even after winning more votes than any other party, the Social Democrats are likely to remain in opposition.

The runner-up, the ruling National Liberals, PNL, with 25 per cent, received far less votes than expected, an obvious electoral slap in the face for its handling of the pandemic.

Both President Iohannis and PNL Prime Minister Ludovic Orban pushed for these elections in early April, before the pandemic restrictions could erode their public support and while the electorate seemed eager to vote against the PSD.

During the campaign, President Iohannis was vocal about his desire to diminish the Social Democrats' sway in parliament, and was accused of de facto campaigning for the Liberals, which was also the conclusion of the observation mission...