Exit polls show Romania's leftists winning parliamentary vote

By Radu-Sorin Marinas and Luiza Ilie

BUCHAREST, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Romania's leftist Social Democrats (PSD) won Sunday's parliamentary election by a wide margin, exit polls showed, putting them in a strong position to form a coalition government with a junior ally.

Seeking re-election a year after the coalition it led stepped down amid street protests over its failure to address corruption, the PSD appears to have won the support of many Romanians with promises of increased social spending.

Exit polls conducted by CURS-Avangarde and IRES showed the PSD winning close to 46 percent of the vote, followed by the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL) with about 22 percent. The Save Romania Union party, a newcomer to Romanian politics, was seen winning around 9.2 percent.

The Central Electoral Bureau is expected to release first official partial results on Monday morning.

Observers said a PSD-led government would likely bloat public spending, raising the risk that Romanian fiscal deficits could exceed the European Union's 3 percent of GDP limits.

With its leader, Liviu Dragnea, convicted of vote-rigging in April, the PSD is also seen as a threat to Romania's recent efforts to step up anti-corruption reforms.

"I am ... overwhelmed by the result," Dragnea said after the exit poll results were announced.

"Romania is an island of stability in the region. All political factors must understand and respect today's vote."

Dragnea also said his party will start talks to form a parliamentary majority with long-time ally ALDE, expected to take about 6 percent of the vote.

A calculation by private television Antena 3 based on raw official ballot data showed PSD winning 47 percent and ALDE 5 percent.

"In the coming days, PSD and ALDE will begin discussions in order to form a new majority in parliament ... Today's vote clearly indicates Romanians' choice for a future government," Dragnea said in a statement.

POLICY TURNAROUND

The election follows a year of a technocrat government in Romania - the EU's fastest-growing economy but also one of its poorest - put in place after massive street protests brought down the previous PSD-led government.

Triggered by a deadly fire in the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest that lacked emergency exits and other safety measures, the protests called for sweeping change in Romania to address chronically inept public administration and graft.

But many of the younger voters who took to the streets then failed to vote on Sunday, underscoring a lack of trust that reforms can take root.

The PSD's electorate traditionally stems from older, poorer Romanians, eager to hear the party's message that centres around public sector wage hikes, tax cuts and higher pensions.

"The exit polls results mean that we will have a leftist government," said political commentator Mircea Marian. "The main problem is that, step by step, very slowly, they will likely change legislation in the anti-corruption field."

Both PSD and ALDE politicians have accused anti-corruption prosecutors, who have won EU praise for their efforts, of being politically motivated in their investigations. Dragnea told reporters in June that Romanians must choose between "better bread or handcuffs."

During its previous years in government, between 2012-2015, the PSD reversed austerity policies put in place after a 2008 real estate crash by cutting taxes and raising the minimum wage and public-sector pay.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, now expects Romania's deficit to quadruple from 0.8 percent of economic output in 2015 to 3.2 percent in 2017 under European accounting terms.</s></s>Election authorities said that with 99 of the votes from Sunday's balloting counted, the Social Democratic Party led with about 46 and the -right Liberals were second with over 20 .

The chairman of the Social Democrats, Liviu Dragnea, spoke Sunday after exit polls were released showing similar results. "There should be no doubt who won the elections," he said. "Romanians want to feel at home in their own country and I want Romania to be a good home for all Romanians."

Dragnea got a two-year suspended prison sentence in April for voter fraud for inflating voter numbers in a July 2012 referendum to impeach then-President Traian Basescu.

Dragnea's party has pushed a populist agenda, but on Sunday he sought to strike a conciliatory note, saying he wanted to end bitter divisions in the country.

The Save Romania Union, a new party that ran on an anti-corruption ticket, finished third, allowing it to enter Parliament. A party needs 5 of the votes to enter the bicameral legislature. Votes from parties that do not make the threshold are redistributed.

Turnout for the election was low, at just 39.5 , more than two percentage points less than the 2012 parliamentary elections.

Former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, already the subject of a corruption probe, resigned after mass protests following a nightclub fire in October 2015 that killed 64 people. Romania is currently run by a government of technocrats headed by Premier Dacian Ciolos, a former European Union agriculture commissioner.

The country of about 19 million people is one of the poorest in the 28-member European Union and perceived as one of the most corrupt.</s>The head of the Social Democrat Party, Liviu Dragnea, speaks to media after exit polls were announced in the parliamentary elections in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016. Two exit polls give Romania's left-leaning Social Democrats a huge lead in a parliamentary election placing them first with about 45 percent while the center-right Liberals came second with about 21 percent of the vote, although these are provisional estimates. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — 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 Monday showed.

Election authorities said that with 99 percent of the votes from Sunday's balloting counted, the Social Democratic Party had won about 46 percent and the center-right Liberals were second with over 20 percent.

The chairman of the Social Democrats, Liviu Dragnea, spoke Sunday after exit polls showed similar results. "There should be no doubt who won the elections," he said. "Romanians want to feel at home in their own country and I want Romania to be a good home for all Romanians."

Dragnea got a two-year suspended prison sentence in April for voter fraud for inflating voter numbers in a July 2012 referendum to impeach then-President Traian Basescu.

Under a 2001 law, Dragnea is not allowed to be appointed prime minister because of the conviction, and last week he said the party would not try to change the law. However, he told Romania TV Monday that he had not ruled himself out as a future premier.

President Klaus Iohannis has said he will not nominate a premier who has been convicted or who is a subject of a corruption investigation.

Dragnea's party has pushed a populist agenda, but on Sunday he sought to strike a conciliatory note, saying he wanted to end bitter divisions in the country.

The Save Romania Union, a new party that ran on an anti-corruption ticket, finished third, allowing it to enter Parliament. A party needs 5 percent of the votes to enter the bicameral legislature. Votes from parties that do not make the threshold are redistributed.

Turnout for the election was low, at just 39.5 percent, more than two percentage points less than the 2012 parliamentary elections.

Former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, already the subject of a corruption probe, resigned after mass protests following a nightclub fire in October 2015 that killed 64 people. Romania is currently run by a government of technocrats headed by Premier Dacian Ciolos, a former European Union agriculture commissioner.

The country of about 19 million people is one of the poorest in the 28-member European Union and perceived as one of the most corrupt.</s>Polling stations on Romanian soil have closed on Sunday evening, at 21:00. The vote started at 7:00.

For organizing the elections electoral circumscriptions were established at the level of the 41 counties, one circumscription in Bucharest City and one for Romanian citizens residing abroad. The total number of electoral circumscriptions is of 43.

The electoral process debuted abroad on Saturday, at 20:00 (Romanian time), for the Romanians in New Zealand and Australia. Voting will end abroad on Monday at 7:00 (Romanian time) on the West Coast of the United States.

The nationwide voter turnout in the parliamentary elections on Sunday until 21:00 hours stood at 39.49 percent, according to the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) official website.

According to the BEC, in the Capital 41.61 percent of the electors have cast their vote.

A number of 102,067 persons voted in the diaspora in the Sunday parliamentary elections until 21.00 hrs, according to the website of the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC).

The Romanian citizens abroad have 417 polling stations to cast their vote in over 90 countries.

The Social Democrat Party (PSD) obtained 45.8 pct of votes cast at the parliamentary elections on Sunday for the Senate and 45.9 pct for the Chamber of Deputies, while the National Liberal Party (PNL) obtained 20.7 pct for the Senate and 20.8 pct for the Chamber of Deputies according to opinion polls carried out at the exit of the polling stations by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES), as broadcast by private broadcaster Digi 24.

Third-ranked is the Save Romania Union (USR), garnering 9.2 pct of the vote in the Chamber of Deputies and 9.3 percent in the Senate. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) has, according to IRES, 6.3 percent of the vote in the Chamber of Deputies and 6.4 in the Senate, while the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) has allegedly gained 6.7 pct in the Chamber of Deputies and 6.8 pct in the Senate.

According to IRES, the People’s Movement Party has not crossed the electoral threshold, gaining 4.6 pct in the Chamber of Deputies and 4.7 in the Senate.

The data shown is the data centralized until 20:00 hrs and the margin of error is of plus/minus 1.6 percent.

The Social Democrat Party (PSD) obtained 45.2 pct of votes cast at the parliamentary elections on Sunday for the Senate, the National Liberal Party (PNL) obtained 21.8 pct while the Save Romania Union (USR) gained 8.9 pct according to opinion polls carried out at the exit of the polling stations by the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology (CURS) and the Socio-Behavioral Study Group Avangarde, as broadcast by private broadcaster Antena 3.

On the following spots, in the Senate, were the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) with 6.5 pct of the votes, the People’s Movement Party (PMP) and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) with 6 pct of the vote each, while other parties did not allegedly cross the electoral threshold.

For the Chamber of Deputies estimates show that the Social Democrat Party (PSD) obtained 45.5 pct of votes, the National Liberal Party (PNL) obtained 21.8 pct, and the Save Romania Union (USR) gained 8.9 pct.

On the following spots, in the Chamber of Deputies, are ALDE, PMP and UDMR with 6 percent each, while other parties fail to cross the electoral threshold.

The data shown at Antena 3 is the data centralized until 19:00 hrs.

The vote today shows a clear option by Romanians, if the first exit-polls are to be confirmed, said, on Sunday, the chairman of the Social Democrat Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea.

“I want to thank all Romanians who turned out to the polls today and special thanks for those who have voted PSD. If the exit-polls are confirmed the vote today shows a clear option of Romanians and I believe that nobody has any doubts regarding who won the elections. (…) Today, citizens have voted for economic growth, for more money in their pockets, for lower taxes and tariffs and to support businessmen, so that youths in Romania have better paying jobs, so that they can buy a house and rapidly reach the middle class, for a program to bring back to life the Romanian village, to feed ourselves from what we reap on our soil. The vote today shows that Romanians want to feel at home in their country, and I want Romania to be a good country for all Romanians,” said Dragnea, at the PSD headquarters.

According to him, the vote of December 11 is a vote to give back dignity to doctors and to professors and to improve rapidly the situation in healthcare and education.

“I want to assure all Romanians that what we have presented in our economic programme in this electoral campaign will be put in practice by a PSD Government. In the coming days I want to say that I will take into account in my reasoning three things: the vote Romanians cast today, the Constitution of Romania and the governing program that I have presented all along this period,” the PSD leader assured.

The Social Democrat chairman assured Romania’s external partners that he fulfill all international, strategic and economic commitments and partnerships. Dragnea also added an important addenda made during the electoral campaign: “We firmly desire to add an important economic component to these partnerships.”

He also had a message for the internal political factors: “Romania is an island of stability in the region. I want Romania to maintain this stable democracy, without useless conflicts, and this means that all political figures, all political factors, all fundamental institutions of the state must understand and respect the vote cast today by Romanians. We must all understand, regardless what we think of one another, that Romania needs a stable, competent and responsible government. I ask all to stop today disunity, because Romanians have voted today against incitement to hatred, against incitement to disunity, they voted so that we may unite, so that Romania truly become a powerful and respected country,” Dragnea emphasized.

“It will be a long night. I asked our colleagues to stay until the end of the vote count. (…) I want to defend our results,” Dragnea said.

PNL’s Alina Gorghiu: Plans to nominate Dacian Ciolos for PM still running

Leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Alina Gorghiu said that plans to nominate Dacian Ciolos for Premier are still running and that the Liberals will perform Sunday night a parallel vote count.

“My special thanks to all those involved in the electoral process, to those present at the polling stations. It is important that they stay mobilized, it’s a well-known fact that any game must be played to the end and the goal we set ourselves, that of forming a parliamentary majority for the project to have Dacian Ciolos as Premier, is still running. It greatly depends on the final result, on the results of the other small parties, if they make it to Parliament or not; yet the message I want to send out is that we must stay alert until the last second,” Gorghiu said at the PNL headquarters after the first exit-poll results were announced.

She also voiced confidence that PNL has a good final score.

The Liberal leader underscored that the results presented by the exit polls rely on partial data as of 19:00 hrs.

“We’ll do a parallel vote count, we’ll wait for the results of 21:00 hrs and I think that this night or tomorrow morning at the latest we’ll be able to come up with a good result for PNL,” Alina Gorghiu added.

She expressed hope that the final result will still offer the Liberals the chance to negotiate a governing majority.

“No matter how hard this might seem at this moment, I hold hopes that the results we’ll see within short (…), the Romanian diaspora included, when we’ll have all the minutes collected from all polling stations, will offer us the chance to discuss parliamentary majority for the Ciolos project. (…) This game must be played to the end, and that’s what we’ll do,” the PNL chair stated.

Gorghiu: Talks with Ciolos, USR tomorrow at the latest

Head of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Alina Gorgiu said that the party will hold talks on Monday at the latest with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos as well as with Save Romania Union (USR), although she stressed that there is no prior agreement in this respect.

“It’s my hope that the results we’ll see (…), probably in a few hours, probably tomorrow morning, including the diaspora, including the minutes from the last polling station, will be results that, no matter how difficult they might seem right now, will offer the chance for us to negotiate a majority in the Parliament for the Ciolos project.(…) I haven’t spoken with Dacian Ciolos either about the result, or about the votes, or anything else. It’s important for us to see the results so that later we can discuss a strategy. Tomorrow at the latest we will hold these talks together with Dacian Ciolos, probably with USR too, to see to what extent we can turn our common project into reality”, Gorghiu said on Sunday night.

She also said that there is no prior agreement made with either Ciolos or USR and steps in this direction will be taken in the coming days.

“Obviously there will be talks with USR, probably talks with Dacian Ciolos. This is politics – we hold talks to shape a favorable scenario for the competitor that generates these talks”, she added.

Gorghiu stressed that after drawing the line, PNL’s score will be a better one.

“I’d like to talk about what we’re going to do when the final results are out. At the moment I don’t want to talk about partial results more that I’ve already done it and I believe you can understand that results must be discussed after drawing the line and when you can see the last minute registered because this is natural. I believe we’ll see better results for PNL”, Gorghiu pointed out.

USR’s Dan: It is an incredible victory for a party established 6 months ago

Chairman of the Save Romania Union (USR), Nicusor Dan, states that the political party he represents recorded “an incredible victory” at the parliamentary elections, given that it was established just 6 months ago.

“It is a victory for democracy in Romania. For the first time after the Revolution, a party formed by people who have not done politics before, people who leave behind their professional careers and the time they spent with their family in order to enter politics, for the first time after the Revolution such a party enters Parliament. I want to thank all Romanians who gave their vote today to us, to the thousands who’ve gathered signatures so that we could run in these parliamentary elections, the thousands of members and sympathizers that were on the street these day talking to Romanians and telling them who the USR is,” Nicusor Dan said.

Nicusor Dan underscored that in case the Social Democrat Party (PSD) will form a parliamentary majority, USR will not be part of it.

“If this scenario becomes true, you will itness in Parliament exactly what you can see in the General Council (of Bucharest municipality – n.r.) and in the local councils. We are a party that votes good initiatives, irrespective of who proposes them and that rejects bad initiatives, no matter who proposes them, and that notifies authorities if anything illegal is taking place,” specified the USR leader.

Nicusor Dan also said that USR’s doors are open for Dacian Ciolos, in case he may wish to join the party.

He underscored that USR mandates in Parliament are actually his supporters’ mandates, Nicusor Dan ensuring that the Union’s representatives will not forget that.

“Today’s vote is a new beginning. For many of us, these past years have been about fighting illegalities, public administration abuse, and the ransacking of public money. Starting with today we have more power and more resources and our promise is that we will carry on in the same direction. We will fight illegalities, authorities’ abuse and ransacking of public money. We will be something that hasn’t existed so far, the citizen’s partner in relation to the public authorities in Romania,” Nicusor Dan stated.

He also encouraged USR representatives in polling stations to stay vigilant during the vote counting process and to notify any irregularity.

“The following hours are extremely important. I want to draw the attention of the other parties’ representatives that any electoral infraction is severely punished and you have our promise, of USR, that in case of illegalities we will pursue the justice path to the end,” the USR leader warned.

Calin Popescu-Tariceanu: President Iohannis should accept with no hidden thoughts people’s will

The co-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Calin Popescu-Tariceanu stated on Sunday evening, at the end of the voting period, that President Iohannis has to accept “the people’s will as it manifested itself at the polling stations and should not stand in the way of the establishment of a legitimate government.”

“I thank all Romanians who made this day of change possible. Thanks to your vote we have the chance to lead the country in the right direction. We will accomplish that by being united, leaving behind the discord that some have sown among us. I undertook to being, together with all my ALDE colleagues, the compass that shows the right direction, the guarantee that this path will be followed relentlessly. These elections prove that there is only one true liberal party in Romania – ALDE, ” wrote Tariceanu on Sunday evening, on Facebook.

Tariceanu added that he “calls upon” president Klaus Iohannis to accept “the people’s will that manifested itself at the polling stations.”

“I call upon all the parties who share the same convictions and values to join the coalition for change and democracy. I call upon those elected and PNL members disappointed by the way the party was led against the elementary principles of liberalism, to join ALDE. The citizens have spoken. They have spelled it out clearly. I call upon President Iohannis to accept without any hidden thoughts the people’s will as it manifested itself at the polling stations and not stand in the way of the establishment of a legitimate, legal, democratic government. Romania has been given back to Romanians by their own will. I thank all my colleagues for their effort and for the involvement in this campaign,” asserted Tariceanu.

UDMR’s Kelemen: I am happy with result, our representation will be stronger

The chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR), Kelemen Hunor, has stated, on Sunday evening, after the presentation of the exit-polls, that he is happy with the results obtained by his formation, who will have a larger representation in Parliament than until now.

“We should wait for the final results, but, as the information inside our organizations, and also the exit-poll, show now, we have a good result, over 6 percent. We will have a powerful representation, a proportional representation and we must thank our voters. (…) I am convinced this vote turnout not only gives us higher legitimacy, but also the power of conviction and of labor each moment we go to Parliament and fight for a better Romania, for a stronger Transylvania, for rights for the Hungarian minority, but also when we are speaking of jobs, of economy, of social issues and the troubles of people who have, often times, without intent, gone into the periphery of society,” said Kelemen Hunor.

He also said that UDMR has exited the shadow in which it stood until now and that the representation of the party will be stronger than in the 2012-2016 mandate.

“We can say with conviction that we have exited the shadow in which we stood, perhaps undeservedly, in recent years,” the UDMR chair said.
Romanians head to the polls in the country's parliamentary elections. Exit polls show the Social Democratic Party winning by a wide margin.