Romania's ruling coalition comfortably wins weekend poll

(BUCHAREST) - Romania's governing centre-left coalition comfortably won parliamentary elections, results showed on Monday, in an outcome likely to fuel tensions that have raised concern over the democratic credentials of one of EU's newest members.

The Social-Liberal Union (USL) headed by Prime Minister Victor Ponta took nearly 60 percent of the vote, according to results from more than 99 percent of the polling stations.

"We can call it a landslide victory, the USL will have an atypically large majority" in post-communist Romania, Alexandru Radu, a professor of political sciences at Bucharest's Cantemir University, told AFP.

Parties close to the USL coalition's arch-rival President Traian Basescu, the Right Romania Alliance (ARD), came in a distant second with around 17 percent of the vote, less than one third of centre-left's share.

Turnout was low at 41.6 percent as disenchantment with politicians remains high in the second-poorest EU member after Bulgaria.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe stressed Monday that "procedures on election day were carried out largely without incidents", in spite of a "highly-charged political atmosphere".

Six months after trying to unseat President Basescu, a move that earned the governing coalition a sharp rebuke from both the European Union and the United States, the USL was poised to secure an absolute majority in parliament.

"This is a cause for concern as the USL showed in the summer a tendency to grab absolute power," sociologist Mircea Kivu told AFP.

Ponta on Sunday said he was ready to lead the next government.

With the president's term running until 2014, the rivals may have to share power again, with more political turmoil likely, analysts have warned.

Tensions between the prime minister and the president have simmered since the governing coalition assumed power in May.

Basescu, who is due to officially name a new prime minister, has repeatedly hinted that he could refuse to re-appoint Ponta, describing his nemesis as a "mythomaniac".

"If the president refuses to appoint Ponta after such a clear election result, the political crisis will be prolonged," political scientist Radu warned.

"It would have devastating consequences in a country already badly hit by the economic crisis", he added.

"It is now up to President Basescu to ensure that the transition will go smoothly and fast", Florin Negrutiu said in an editorial for the online news site Gandul, urging him to appoint Ponta.

Basescu, who was in Oslo Monday together with other EU leaders to collect the Nobel peace prize awarded to the European Union earlier this year, has so far failed to react to the election outcome.

Ponta appeared to extend an olive branch, saying that after months of bitter feuding, "Romania now needs a period of calm".

"We need to overcome political fighting, hatred and revenge", he said.

"The sole orientation of the government I will lead will be pro-European and pro-NATO. The future of Romania lies in the European family", he stressed.

Basescu has accused USL leaders of driving the country away from the EU, which it joined in 2007.

"Ponta can now choose to become the new Viktor Orban (the Hungarian prime minister), someone Europe is avoiding like the plague, or to respect European rules, at the cost of becoming impopular in his country," Negrutiu wrote.

Analysts and investors have called for political stability as Romania is struggling to recover from one of Europe's most painful austerity drives.

The average monthly wage currently stands at 350 euros ($450) and about three million Romanians have emigrated looking for jobs and better living conditions elsewhere.

The 2012 growth forecast was revised down to 0.7 percent from 1.7 percent.

Romania hopes to negotiate a new deal with the International Monetary Fund in the coming months after getting a 20-billion-euro lifeline in 2009 and a five-billion-euro precautionary loan in 2011.

Populist millionnaire Dan Diaconescu, who hoped to tap into voters' discontent with traditional parties, seemed to have lost the race against Ponta for a deputy seat in the southwestern constituency of Targu Jiu.

But his party came in third with around 14 percent of the vote, partial results showed.