Romania faced the prospect of a hung parliament on Monday as inconclusive results emerged from general elections in the poor Balkan country, already struggling to stay on track in its drive to join the European Union. Partial results from Sunday's poll showed the ruling ex-communist Social Democrats (PSD) leading slightly over the opposition centrists, but well short of majority in parliament.
With nearly half the votes counted in the twin presidential and parliamentary election, the PSD had about 35 percent of the vote, just three percent ahead of the centrist alliance of Liberal and Democrat parties.
"It will be extremely difficult to form the government and probably Romania will see for the first time (since communism collapsed in 1989) a shorter parliamentary term and an early election," independent analyst Florin Petria said.
Exit polls had given a clearer lead of around 40 percent to the ruling party, credited with boosting economic growth but blamed for widespread corruption in the former Soviet bloc country of 22 million people.
Partial results made Prime Minister Adrian Nastase front-runner to replace President Ion Iliescu but he will face a run-off against outspoken opposition leader Traian Basescu.
If fears of a hung parliament are confirmed, the battle for the largely ceremonial post of president will take on new significance as he will have a decisive say in resolving the deadlock. This effectively freezes any talks on a new government until well after the December 12 run-off.
"The whole process could take up to 80 days until a new government could be formed," said Simon Quijano-Evans, emerging market analyst at BACA, HVB Group.
EU TARGET SAFE FOR NOW: Romania and its neighbour Bulgaria missed the first wave of the EU's eastward expansion in May.
But whereas Sofia has already concluded talks on entry in 2007, Romania has fallen behind. The EU has criticised the PSD government for dragging its feet in key reforms, human rights and rooting out graft.
Romanians blame the PSD for widespread corruption but the party's success in boosting economic growth and promises to take care of the underprivileged have underpinned its support, particularly in rural areas.
Both main parties ruled out a coalition with the far-right Greater Romania party, which was lying third with 13 percent. Its participation in any government could jeopardise the country's EU accession negotiations, diplomats say.
That leaves a small party of ethnic Hungarians and a handful of deputies representing several other minorities as potential coalition partners.
The Hungarians said they were ready to co-operate with either of the main parties but would enter any government talks only after the presidential run-off.
With the race so close, the opposition was quick to charge that the PSD had used dirty tricks and its administrative clout to rig the vote.
Fears of vote fraud - mainly on how absentee ballots were cast - have been fuelled by events in neighbouring Ukraine, shaken by mass protests against what the West and the Ukrainian opposition see as a rigged election.
"We know there was fraud, which we estimate at 3-5 percent," opposition leader Basescu said. Alliance officials said they had alerted authorities about specific cases and urged a thorough investigation.
The PSD has vehemently denied trying to rig the vote. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a pan-European watchdog monitoring human rights, said it would issue a statement later on Monday.
Western diplomats said they had seen more irregularities than in previous elections the West regarded as democratic, but were sceptical they were enough to tip the scales.
"There were things out there that were troublesome but it's hard to say whether they would tilt the elections," a senior Western diplomat told Reuters.
A Romanian rights group, Pro Democratia, said some of its 3,300 monitors saw buses full of PSD supporters touring the countryside, raising the prospect of multiple voting.