Romania

Liberal Democrats win general election

Article published on the 2008-12-01 Latest update 2008-12-01 11:33 TU

Mircea Geoana
(Photo: Reuters)

In an election marked by low turnout, Romania gave power to the Liberal Democrat Party after the first official results were released on Monday. Turnout, at just under 40 per cent of the 18 million eligible Romanians, was the lowest since the end of communism almost 20 years ago.

Despite exit polls on Sunday that suggested the Social Democrats had a five point lead, the initial results on Monday gave them just 33 per cent against the 34 per cent won by the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Party came third with 18 per cent with the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania taking just over six per cent.

Correspondent Luca Niculescu says the formation of a government will be a challenge with no party holding a clear majority. Negotiations between politicians, he says, are expected to begin today.

The Greater Romania Party failed to take the necessary five per cent to enter parliament and, for the first time since 1996, the far-right party will hold no seat in the new parliament.

The election, for both senators and deputies, took place in a single round of voting for the first time.