Romanians will elect on Sunday 35 representatives to the European Parliament to replace the sitting Romanian MEPs who were nominated by the national parliament for the first months of EU membership. Photo by European Parliament press center
More than 18 million Romanians are eligible to head to the polls on Sunday to elect 35 representatives to the European Parliament.
This will be the first European vote for Romania since it joined the European Union together with Bulgaria on January 1. Elections were scheduled earlier in the year but were delayed by political infighting.
The 35 MEPs elected will hold office until EP elections in mid-2009. They will replace the sitting Romanian MEPs who were nominated by the national parliament for the first months of EU membership.
Voters can choose from among 13 parties or the single independent candidate on the list. Candidates will be elected via proportional representation.
Official results are not expected until Wednesday.
The elections on Sunday will coincide with a referendum on election reform for national elections in Romania. Polls show 80 percent support for the change. But for the vote to be valid, turnout must exceed 50 percent.
When they joined the EU in January this year the Treaty of Accession stipulated that both Romania and Bulgaria must hold elections to the European Parliament in 2007.
Bulgaria elected its 18 MEPs on 20 May this year, sending to Brussels representatives of five parties.
Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov's GERB party, appearing at its first ever election, won five seats, the same number as the senior partner in the ruling coalition, the Socialists, who appeared on the ballot as the Platform of European Socialists (PES).
The other two partners in the ruling coalition, the ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and the Simeon II National Movement (SIINM), won four and one seat, respectively.
Ultra-nationalist party Ataka (Attack) was the only other party to top the 5,66% threshold, winning three seats.