4 parties in Romania reach agreement to form pro-Western coalition government

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – 4 parties in Romania reached an agreement to form a pro-Western coalition government, according to local media reports on Wednesday.

The coalition which will include Social Democratic Party (PDS), central-right parties, the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) will be supported by the minority parties group that has 19 seats in the parliament, said the broadcaster Antena3, citing a joint statement.

In the statement, the parties confirmed, “their firm commitment to forming a pro-European majority in the Romanian Parliament, a pro-European government and supporting a possible joint pro-European candidate in the presidential elections." The PSD won 22.32% with over 2.06 million votes in Dec. 1 general election of Senate members, officials announced Monday

The PSD was followed by the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), which garnered 18.28% with 1.69 million votes, the PNL, which got 14.29% with over 1.32 million votes, the Save RomaniaUnion (USR) with 12.25% and 1.13 million votes, and the far-right SOS Romania party with 7.75% and over 716,000 votes.

In elections for the Chamber of Deputies, or lower house, the PSD won 21.86% with more than 2.06 million votes.

It was followed by the AUR, which garnered 17.92% with 1.69 million votes, the PNL with 14% and over 1.32 million votes, the USR with 12.35% and 1.13 million votes, and the far-right SOS Romania party with 7.6% and over 717,000 votes.

The right-wing populist Party of Young People and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania also passed the 5% electoral threshold.

The PSD secured 86 seats in the lower chamber and 37 in the Senate, followed by the AUR with 64 seats in the lower chamber and 28 in the Senate, and the PNL with 50 seats in the lower chamber and 22 in the Senate.

According to the Romanian Constitution, at least 235 members of parliament, which comprises the Chamber of Deputies with 331 seats and the Senate with 136 seats, is required to form a government, and the PSD falls short of those numbers.

The new government will have to set a new date for the presidential election which is to be renewed following the Constitutional Court's annulment of the vote held on Nov. 24. The first round results saw the victory of ultra-nationalist Calin Georgescu. President Klaus Iohannis said following the annulment by the country's Constitutional Court that Georgescu was supported by a foreign state, according to evidence collected and eventually submitted to him by the competent security and intelligence services proved it.