Romanians are voting in a parliamentary election sandwiched between a two-round presidential race that has thrown the European Union and the NATO member country into unprecedented turmoil following allegations of election irregularities and Russian meddling.
Sunday’s vote will elect a new government and prime minister and determine the formation of the country’s 466-seat legislature. Romanians who are abroad can vote from Saturday.
The legislative vote comes a week after the first round of the presidential race in which a controversial far-right populist, who previously polled in the single digits, won the most votes. Calin Georgescu, 62, is due to face reformist Elena Lasconi from Save Romania Union Party, or USR, in a runoff on December 8.
Georgescu’s success, which many attribute to his rapid rise in popularity on the social media platform TikTok, sparked overnight protests across Romania by those who oppose his previous speeches praising Romanian fascist leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and view him as a threat to democracy.
Many observers believe the results of the presidential election show a sharp shift away from Romania’s main parties to more populist, anti-establishment parties whose votes have found fertile ground amid high inflation, a high cost of living and a sluggish economy.
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Alexandru Rizescu, a 24-year-old medical student, said he was surprised by the result of the first round of the presidential election and that it was a “clear sign” that Europe as a whole was moving towards far-right populism.
“Most of us are sick of these big parties, but now we have to think about … the lesser evil,” he said. “If Georgescu becomes president with a favorable parliament, it will be wild.”
According to a report by Expert Forum, a Bucharest-based think tank, there was an explosion of engagement on Georgescu’s TikTok account before last week’s vote, which it said appeared “sudden and artificial, similar to his poll results”.
Without naming Georgescu, who announced zero campaign spending, Romania’s top defense body said Thursday that “a presidential candidate benefited from massive exposure due to preferential treatment” provided by TikTok. Romania has become a “priority target for hostile actions” by Russia, he added. The Kremlin denies meddling.
The same day, the country’s constitutional court ordered a recount of all 9.4 million votes after a presidential candidate who received 1% filed a complaint alleging that the USR violated electoral laws against campaign activities on election day. The Central Election Bureau approved the request and said the scanned returns should be sent by Sunday evening. on friday, the court postponed the decision until Monday whether to annul the vote.
Cristian Andrei, a political consultant in Bucharest, said Sunday’s vote could be swayed by Georgescu’s success, with far-right parties likely to score record results.
“The impact of last Sunday’s surprise presidential election will be significant, and we will wake up to a new political reality,” he told The Associated Press. “Giorgescu voters will speak again and change the way we look at the Romanian political spectrum from now on and possibly forever.”
“On Monday we will wake up to a new political reality in Romania,” he added. “The most likely scenario will be a hard-to-build majority in parliament to support and approve a new government.”
Despite the two main opposition parties – which dominated post-communist politics in Romania – the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), forming an unlikely coalition in 2021 that is becoming increasingly tense. A small ethnic Hungarian party left the cabinet last year after a row over power-sharing.
While the presidential role in Romania has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security and foreign policy, the prime minister is the nation’s head of government.
The latest polls suggest that the top three parties in Sunday’s race will be the PSD, the far-right Alliance for Romanian Unity and the PNL. After bursting onto the political scene eight years ago on an anti-corruption ticket, USR’s popularity has waned in recent years, but it could garner the next most votes.
Smaller parties that may not pass the 5% threshold to enter parliament include the pro-European reform party REPER and the liberal-conservative Force of the Right. Some predict that the far-right nationalist party SOS Romania and the recently formed and little-known youth party that supported Georgescu could cross the threshold.
