BUCHAREST: Romania’s opposition Social Democrats (PSD) have taken the lead in Sunday’s national election, seen as pivotal for the country’s future in the European mainstream, according to partial results on Monday, but are unlikely to form the next government.
The PSD, which rode a wave of voter discontent over the coronavirus
pandemic and the minority Liberal government’s pledges of fiscal restraint, will struggle to form a functioning majority against incumbent Prime Minister Ludovic Orban.
President Klaus Iohannis, an ally of the Liberals who gets to nominate the prime minister, has said repeatedly that he will task Orban with forming a centre-right coalition government to rein in a ballooning budget deficit and restore the European Union state’s credibility among foreign investors.
Under Romanian law, the president is not obligated to pick a prime minister from the winning party if it did not secure an outright majority.
Orban himself claimed victory on Sunday evening…
