Leftist Alliance Leads Romania's EU Election Polls

European elections on 25 May will be marked by a high degree of absenteeism in Romania, as only 28 per cent of people say they intend to vote on Sunday, a poll released on Wednesday said.

Of those who say they will vote, 44 per cent say they will vote for the ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democratic Party, PSD, and two other minor parties. Together they should get around 16 seats in the European Parliament.

About 17 per cent of the votes will go to the National Liberal Party, PNL, which is likely to win six seats. The right-wing Democratic Liberal Party, PDL, is expected to get four or five seats and the newly established Popular Movement Party, PMP, is projected to have three.

The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, UDMR, is also likely to exceed the threshold of 5 per cent of the votes.

Romania will have 32 seats in the next European Parliament, one down from 33 at present. About 18.22 million Romanians have the right to vote.

Most of the lists of candidates are led by standing MEPs or by relatives and friends of the political elite.

Analysts say the lack of a clear agenda on the part of most candidates, as well as a perception of clientism and corruption, have contributed to a lack of interest by voters.

None of the political forces involved appears to see the elections as a way to discuss key European issues but rather as a test before the presidential election, due later this year.

European elections have been marked by a high degree of absenteeism in Romania. Only 27 per cent of Romanians voted in the European elections of 2009, compared to a European average of 43 per cent.

Romania is to spend about 34 million euro on organizing the elections this year, 50 per cent more than was...