No pre-electoral alliance emerges in Romania ahead of crucial parliamentary ballot

Although the National Liberal Party (PNL) expressed unconditioned support for the Save Romania Union (USR) presidential candidate Elena Lasconi, while the USR president, in turn, expressed preference for a ruling coalition with the Liberals – no formal pre-electoral alliance has emerged ahead of the December 1 parliamentary elections in Romania. After the shock of the first presidential ballot, all major parties still hope to hold a dominant position in the would-be coalition.

The rivalry between USR and PNL remains high, and only the outcome of the parliamentary elections will shape the balance of power between the two likely ruling partners.

Liberal acting president Ilie Bolojan took a headstart by exposing his plans as would-be future prime minister and stressed that his party would join the ruling coalition conditioned on the acceptance of its ruling strategy, according to Mediafax. In response, USR’s Lasconi thanked Bolojan on an ironical note for voicing similar ideas but invited the electorate “to vote the original,” namely the USR, G4media.ro reported.

Other parties may be invited in the would-be coalition, but Lasconi – who expects to negotiate the formation of the majority, particularly if she wins in the second round of the presidential elections - was cautious in naming other possible partners.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) refused to openly endorse USR’s presidential candidate Lasconi against her far-right rival Calin Georgescu and reiterated its ambitions for the parliamentary elections, even after its leader Marcel Ciolacu failed to make it to the final presidential round and announced his imminent resignation.

Notably, the far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu turned out to have a party (The Party of Youth POT) behind him, and risks are that his TikTok campaign may generate some results (albeit weaker, given his exposure) in the parliamentary ballot as well.

In any case, the score of the “mainstream nationalist” Alliance of United Romanians (AUR) is likely to be in the double-digit area and will have an impact on political stability.