Landslide victory for Romania's Social Liberal Union at general elections

The latest exit polls after the general elections in Romania, which ended at 21:00 on Sunday, December 9, point to the Social Liberal Union having won the majority of votes, with an estimated 57 percent. A Geopol exit poll at 19:00, two hours before the polls closed, shows a huge gap between USL and ARD – the Right Romania Alliance, which won only 18 percent of the votes. Third came the People's party Dan Diaconescu – PP-DD – at 14 percent. The percentages vary between the several exit polls ordered and performed on Sunday, with some showing plus 5 to 8 percentage points for all parties, but all show the same large difference between the USL and the second ranking party. In the first speech after the polls closed, Crin Antonescu, head of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and co-head of USL already nominated the incumbent Prime Minister Victor Ponta (in picture) to be the new Prime Minister, after the votes are counted. As expected by pundits, the political battle between the President Traian Basescu and the PM Victor Ponta will continue, with the biggest fears pointing to a lack of agreement on naming the new Prime Minister. Ponta ran for a seat in the Romanian Parliament representing the city of Targu Jiu in Gorj county, where he also voted. Only some 40 percent of Romanians attended the vote, which was organized on the first day of winter in Romania, with an extreme weather alert, snow, blizzards and some closed roads across the country. At the last parliamentary elections in 2008, the turnout was 39.2 percent. This time round, turnout had reached 36.54 percent by 18:00, suggesting the final figures will be very close to the previous 2008 elections, despite the severe weather. editor@romania-insider.com