Romanians head to polls in shadow of pandemic – Yahoo News

Romanians voted in parliamentary elections on Sunday, with the governing pro-European liberals expected to win despite criticism for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 18 million Romanians are eligible to take part in the vote, which has been organised to take in the now familiar virus safety measures of social distancing, mask-wearing and hand disinfectant.

Polling stations abroad have been open since Saturday, with more than 120,000 expatriate Romanians having cast a ballot by midday on Sunday, according to the electoral authority.

Romania is one of the poorest countries in the EU and four million of its citizens have left in recent years to seek better lives elsewhere, in particular in Western EU member states.

In a region where populists and nationalists have recently gained ground, liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has won support by pledging to modernise Romania and keep it on a "pro-European" path.

Orban has been running a minority government for the past year.

A recent opinion poll published by the IMAS institute showed his National Liberal Party (PNL) garnering 28 percent of the vote, ahead of the main opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) at 23 percent.

The recently-formed centre-right alliance USR-Plus are forecast to win 18 percent, which would bolster their growing influence in Romanian politics.

- Trust and hope -

Both the virus and widespread disillusionment with politics are expected to weigh on turnout, which stood at 11 percent at midday, as opposed to 12.5 percent at the same time during the last such election in 2016.

Polling stations opened at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT), when an exit poll will be published by the local media.

The first official results are expected later in the evening.

After having voted in a Bucharest school, 63-year-old retired electrician Gheorghe Preda said he had "no hope" of change and criticised both big parties "who have been taking turns in power for 30 years and make lots of promises during the campaign, but forget them afterwards".

Story continues

But 104-year-old philosopher Mihai Sora, who won the admiration of many Romanians for doggedly turning out for hours during anti-corruption protests in recent years, said staying away from the polls was not an option.

"I voted with trust and hope, in thinking of my country and the future of its people," he wrote in a Facebook post.

Adina Ionescu, 42, was watching her two daughters enjoy themselves on an open-air ice rink before heading to cast her vote later.

She had received some chocolate for her traditional St. Nicholas' Day present and was hoping for another gift at the close of the polls: "A government of young people, which cares about the environment and about Romanians' welfare".

- Naughty or nice? -

The PNL have the advantage of being supported by President Klaus Iohannis, who has brushed aside criticism that he is disrespecting his constitutional role by campaigning for the liberals.

Orban said after casting his vote that "it's up to Romanians today to determine the path that the country will take".

"As for me, I voted for a dynamic, modern Romania, confident in its abilities and respected on the international stage," he added.

The left-wing PSD is the heir to the former Communist Party and has dominated Romanian politics over the past 30 years.

It won by a landslide in the previous election in 2016, but its years in power were marked by massive anti-corruption protests and spats with Brussels over controversial judicial reforms.

The new head of the PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, called on Romanians "to vote in the spirit of the St Nicholas' Day holiday, where those who've been good get treats whereas the others get a smack".

Ciolacu said he hoped that the outcome of the elections would lead to "a plan to get out of the pandemic and the economic crisis".

The PSD has expressed opposition to some of the current anti-virus measures, although it has itself been criticised for lack of clarity in its own plan to combat the virus.

Orban's government has said it will not reinstitute a full lockdown like the one imposed in the spring, but epidemiologists fear there may be an explosion of cases in the weeks to come.

mr-ii/jsk/spm

View original post here:

Romanians head to polls in shadow of pandemic - Yahoo News