Save Romania Union

Romania's third force, a year-old anti-corruption party called the Save Romania Union, is facing a leadership vacuum after an internal referendum over whether it should take a clear stance and vote against changing the constitution to include the conservative definition of family, as a union between a man and a woman.

Save Romania Union, the third strongest force in parliament, faces a leadership crisis after its leader, Nicusor Dan, resigned abruptly on Wednesday night.

He quit after the party leadership urged its MPs to vote against a bill redefining the family in strictly heterosexual terms in the constitution.

Romania's youngest political force in parliament, the Save Romania Union, USR, is holding its first national congress after the December 2016 elections at the weekend.

But much more is at stake than a simple leadership contest, analysts and politicians say.

Romania's Social Democratic Party, PSD, won legislative elections on Sunday and is set to designate the next Prime Minister, although it is still unclear if it managed to win a majority in parliament.

According to partial results after 98 per cent of the votes were counted, the PSD won 45.9 per cent, but this result might change after a redistribution of votes.

Romania's left-leaning Social Democrats easily won parliamentary elections a year after a major anti-corruption drive forced the last Socialist prime minister from power, near-final results released showed Dec. 12.

Romania's centre-left wing Social Democrat Party, PSD, won the country's legislative elections on Sunday, but failed to secure a parliamentary majority, leaving the door open for negotiations on forming a coalition with another parliamentary group.

Almost 19 million Romanians are expected to head to the polls today to a new parliament, amid an expected low voter turnout and with corruption dominating the debate.

Polls opened at 7am and will close at 9pm.