INSCOP poll shows Social Democrats gaining momentum in Romania

Far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) remained in first place in voting intention for the parliamentary elections, but reached the lowest level recorded by INSCOP after the presidential elections in May 2025 (37.0%, down from 38% in March and above 40% in four of the six polls carried out over the past year), according to the Informat.ro - INSCOP Research barometer conducted between April 1 and 7.

Notably, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) consolidated its position as the second-largest political force with a score of 20.1% in April, up from 19.2% in March and 18.2% in January. The party’s score plunged to 13.7% in June, when it entered the four-party ruling coalition headed by Liberal prime minister Ilie Bolojan.

In principle, the consolidation of the electoral base during the past months (apparently by capturing/recovering part of the AUR’s electoral base) that coincides with radical rhetoric against reformist PM Bolojan may encourage further escalation of the conflict within the ruling coalition. PSD is going to announce its decision on its role in the ruling coalition upon a broad internal referendum on April 20 – when it is broadly expected that the party leader Sorin Grindeanu will require Bolojan to step down.

However, the score of the Liberal Party (PNL) has also improved over the past months, to 15.5% in April, from 14.5% in March and 13.5% in January.

The reformist party USR, supposed to form an electoral alliance with PNL ahead of the coming parliamentary elections in 2028, also improved its score by 1 percentage point from 12.7% in January to 13.7% in April.

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