World News – CA – Romanians elect new legislators and try to put an end to the political turmoil

This translation was generated automatically and has not been checked for correctness. Full disclaimer

A woman is preparing to vote for the parliamentary elections in Bucharest, Romania, in December. 6, 2020.

The Romanians voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election that many hope will restore stability to one of the poorest countries in the European Union after five years of political and social unrest.

More than 18 million Romanians are registered to vote for a new national parliament. However, voter turnout is expected to be low as voters fear contracting the coronavirus.

To date, the seventh most populous country in the EU has more than 500. 000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 12. 000 deaths confirmed.

According to most pre-election polls, the center-right National Liberal Party, known by the Romanian acronym PNL, will be the nominal winner with more than 30% of the vote.

If the polls are accurate, the main party of the EU-leaning, austerity-stricken social conservatives of Romania will for the first time in nearly three decades of history become the largest party in the bicameral parliament with 465 seats. Still, it would miss a government majority. Analysts predict the party will try to form a ruling coalition with the progressive USR-Plus alliance, which is expected to get around 20% of the vote.

Both fought for promises to depoliticize and completely reform the Romanian civil service, maintain the independence of its judiciary, impose budgetary discipline and prop up the collapsing public health and education system.

But they seem to have slightly different views on how best to get rid of the corrupt welfare state model and inefficient bureaucracy, both of which stem from decades of political supremacy of the left-wing, populist Social Democratic Party (PSD) in Romania.

The Social Democrats have dominated Romania’s political life since the fall of communism in 1989, often in multi-party coalitions, including the PLN at times.

You won the last election in 2016, going through three prime ministers and dozen of ministers before the PLN took over the leadership of a minority government a year ago. The PSD-led government has voiced heavy criticism from the EU for its interference in the judiciary and a cascade of corruption scandals involving some of the party’s most prominent members.

Although its chaotic tenure recently sparked massive street protests for two years, the PSD has apparently regained some of the lost popular support in recent months as the minority government sought to contain the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic Curb social spending.

Recently, the PSD managed to get a motion through parliament to increase all state pensions by 40%, ignoring warnings from the country’s central bank that this was not feasible.

It has a loyal support base among Romania’s rural voters and is said to receive over 20% of the vote.

Due to the measures taken to contain pandemics and viruses, Romania’s budget deficit is expected to increase to around 9% of gross domestic product this year compared to 4. 3% in 2019. The corona virus continues to spread in Romania. Almost two thirds of all infections and almost half of all virus deaths to date were recorded in the past two months.

In 18. 000 polling stations across the country slated to close at 9 p.m. have not been given any special virus precautions beyond the general requirements of wearing masks, disinfecting hands and maintaining social distancing. m. (1900 GMT).

According to the Romanian central electoral office, approx. 3. 5 million people cast their ballots at 3 p.m.. m. Local time (1300 GMT) on Sunday or 3. 3% less than at the same time during the 2016 general election.

An exit poll is expected to be released by local media shortly after polling stations close, while the first official results are expected overnight on Sunday.

Our morning and evening updates newsletters are written by Globe editors and provide you with a brief summary of the day’s key headlines. Register today.

Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is an area where subscribers can connect with each other and with Globe employees. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments, but cannot engage with them in any way. Click here to login.

If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters @ globeandmail. com. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter .

Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is an area where subscribers can connect with each other and with Globe employees. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments, but cannot engage with them in any way. Click here to login.

If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters @ globeandmail. com. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter .

Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is an area where subscribers can connect with each other and with Globe employees.

Romania, Romanian parliamentary elections 2020, coronavirus