The two ruling parties in Romania won together 63% of the votes for the County Councils in the June 9 local elections, according to the exit poll carried out by Curs and Avangarde.

In the best proxy for the political support enjoyed by the two parties ahead of the parliamentary elections in December, the Social Democrats (PSD) got 35% of the votes, followed by the Liberals (28%) – at a wide margin above the two relevant opposition political forces: United Right Alliance (USR and its partners) and the Alliance of United Romanians (AUR) with 12% of the votes each. The Hungarian party UDMR received 5% of the votes.

The turnout in the local elections was 49.9%, several percentage points below the 52.3% turnout for the European elections.

In principle, the combined scores of the two parties surpassing the score obtained by the two parties on joint lists should encourage the two to appoint separate presidential candidates this autumn. This was already announced in advance by the two parties last week, and the outcome of the vote on June 9 only confirms that the Social Democrats and Liberals will run on separate lists in the parliamentary elections as well (in December). 

Although the ruling coalition is expected to remain in office after the parliamentary and presidential elections this autumn, the balance of power between the Social Democrats and Liberals will be significantly revised.

With robust (although informal) support from local administration after the June 9 local elections, the two parties are expected to consolidate their majority in Parliament and nominate the leading candidates for the presidential elections.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)