Indecisive election in Romania

70 percent of the votes cast in Romania’s general and presidential elections have now been counted, and it seems neither of the two main parties will hold an absolute majority in parliament.

Only three percentage points seperate the former communist Social Democrats from a centre-right alliance in the parliamentary race. The Social Democrat’s Presidential candidate Adrian Nastase and his prospective Prime Minister Mircea Geoana are adamant they will not be forming a coalition with the extreme right wing, which won 13 percent, to hold on to power.

The alliance leader Traian Basescu, the Mayor of Bucharest, is now set for a runoff on December the 12th. for the presidency against Nastase, and it may be up to the President once elected to sort out the balance in parliament.

At least the election has been mostly clean. The OSCE monitors say that there have been some minor infringements, but on the whole the vote has been free and fair.

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