Disillusioned Romanians shun election in shadow of Covid-19 pandemic

Broad disillusion with Romania's political class along with a harsh second wave of the coronavirus pandemic kept voters away from parliamentary polls on Sunday, but the ruling pro-European liberals were still expected to win despite criticism over their handling of the crisis.

More than 18 million Romanians are eligible to take part in the vote, carried out with the now familiar virus safety measures of social distancing, mask-wearing and hand disinfectant.

However, with only four hours of voting left, turnout seemed to be heading for a record low by late Sunday afternoon.

Only a quarter of those eligible had voted -- five percentage points down on the last such election in 2016.

Expatriate Romanians seemed to be keener to vote, with 200,000 of them having cast a ballot by late afternoon on Sunday, according to the electoral authority, double the 2016 figure.

Romania is one of the EU's poorest countries, and four million of its citizens have left in recent years to seek better lives elsewhere, in particular in western EU member states.

In a region where populists and nationalists have recently gained ground, liberal Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has won support by pledging to modernise Romania and keep it on a "pro-European" path.

Orban said he cast his vote "for a dynamic, modern Romania, confident in its abilities and respected on the international stage".

A recent opinion poll published by the IMAS institute showed his National Liberal Party (PNL) garnering 28 per cent of the vote, ahead of the main opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) at 23 per cent.

The recently formed centre-right alliance USR-Plus are forecast to win 18 per cent, which would bolster their growing influence.

Turnout has been particularly low in rural areas, which may harm the PSD's chances, while a high turnout among emigrant Romanians should be good news for USR-Plus as those voters tend to be younger and more receptive to its pledge to clean up the political elite.

After casting his vote at a Bucharest school, 63-year-old retired electrician Gheorghe Preda said he had "no hope" of change. He said the two big parties "have been taking turns in power for 30 years and make lots of promises during the campaign, but forget them afterwards".

But 104-year-old philosopher Mihai Sora, who won the admiration of many Romanians for doggedly turning out for hours during anti-corruption protests in recent years, said staying away from the polls was not an option.

"I voted with trust and hope, in thinking of my country and the future of its people," he wrote in a Facebook post.

Mother of two Adina Ionescu, 42, said she was hoping for "a government of young people, which cares about the environment and about Romanians' welfare".

The PNL have the advantage of being supported by President Klaus Iohannis, who has brushed aside criticism that he is disrespecting his constitutional role by campaigning for the liberals.

The left-wing PSD, heir to the former Communist Party, has dominated Romanian politics over the past 30 years.

It won by a landslide in the previous election in 2016, but its years in power were marked by massive anti-corruption protests and spats with Brussels over controversial judicial reforms.

The new head of the PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, called on Romanians "to vote in the spirit of the St Nicholas' Day holiday (Sunday), where those who've been good get treats whereas the others get a smack".

The PSD has expressed opposition to some of the current anti-virus measures, although it has itself been criticised for lack of clarity in its own plan to combat the virus.

Orban's government has said it will not reinstitute a full lockdown like the one imposed in the spring, but experts fear an explosion of cases in the weeks to come.

Polling stations are to close at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT), when local media will publish exit polls. The first official results are expected later in the evening.