Second in the running was the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) at 18.3%, with the PSD’s erstwhile coalition partner, the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), at 14.3%.
In total, seven parties appeared to have passed the 5% threshold needed to take seats in parliament.
Two of them, SOS Romania and the Party of Young People (POT), which supports Călin Georgescu, the far-right victor in the first round of Romania’s presidential election earlier this month, each scooped between 6-8%.
This will strengthen the far-right's hand in parliament and give it considerable influence over legislation.
The general election comes just days after the ultra-nationalist and pro-Moscow independent candidate Georgescu stormed to a resounding first-round victory in the presidential election, knocking out the favorite, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (PSD).
The legitimacy of Georgescu’s victory has been called into question, as he had garnered only single-figure support prior to the vote and the country’s Constitutional Court has ordered a recount amid allegations of foreign meddling.
If the result is upheld, Georgescu will face Elena Lasconi of the center-right Union to Save Romania (USR) in a run-off on December 8.
Georgescu’s showing came as a shot in the arm to the far right, which was polling ahead of the PSD prior to Sunday’s voting. According to preliminary results, the AUR had more than doubled their showing of 8.5% in the 2020 election.
In addition to the presidential poll, the far right’s popularity was also fueled by widespread concerns over corruption and the cost of living—Romania has the EU’s highest proportion of people at risk of poverty as well as the bloc’s highest inflation rate and biggest budget deficit.
Another factor in the rise of the right was fear over Bucharest’s support for Ukraine, with many voters concerned that the conflict could spill over, as well as strong resentment over the perceived preferential treatment of Ukrainian refugees.
Sunday’s elections are seen as crucial for Romania’s political direction, with outgoing President Klaus Iohannis describing the poll as deciding whether Romania remains “a country of freedom and openness or collapses into toxic isolation and a dark past.”
If Monday’s results are confirmed, the PSD should be able to form a pro-EU governing coalition, though analysts say the horse trading may take time.
“The Social Democrats will take a few days and wait to be courted,” political commentator Radu Magdin told Reuters. “A coalition with centrist parties is more likely than with the extremists. And much depends on who becomes president.”
Whoever may form a ruling coalition, the Chamber of Deputies will be more fractured than previously, with a resurgent right diluting the PSD and PNL’s decades-long dominance of the political scene.
