People pass by an electoral billboard displaying various candidates for the incoming parliamentary elections in Bucharest on Dec 03, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

BUCHAREST - Romanians head to the polls on Sunday in a national ballot key to restoring the country’s reputation among investors, with the incumbent, reform-oriented centrists of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban holding a narrow lead over opposition Social Democrats.

In power for a year in spite of his opponents’ hold over parliament, Orban, 57, has said he would undo a 40 percent pension hike ordered by the leftist PSD, which economists say could bloat the deficit to 11 percent of GDP and push Romania’s credit rating to junk.

Orban, 57, has said he would undo a 40 percent pension hike ordered by the leftist PSD, which economists say could bloat the deficit to 11 percent of GDP and push Romania’s credit rating to junk

He has pledged to halt efforts by leftist-led cabinets to sap court independence amid the judiciary’s scrutiny of alleged corruption and misuse of funds - accusations the PSD denies.

Orban has campaigned on a promise to bring the Black Sea state closer to the European mainstream following years of fiscal populism and political instability coupled with neglect of rundown infrastructure and public services.

“There is a decisive choice to make on Dec 6: We can become a top EU member or remain, again, a laggard,” Orban told party members during the campaign. “I’m not happy with an average Romania.”

The Romanian leu has traded near all-time lows against the euro in the last year, following a string of corruption-related scandals that has toppled three governments since the last parliamentary election in 2016.

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All three main rating agencies have Romania only one notch above junk and on a negative outlook.

Seeking re-election one year after the government it led stepped down in a no-confidence vote, the PSD has clawed back support in recent months, amid anxiety among its core rural electorate over Orban’s fiscal conservatism.

The coronavirus pandemic has also fuelled anger over social distancing restrictions that have hit thousands of small farmers who sell their produce in nearby cities.

More than 18 million Romanians are eligible to cast a vote, but analysts expect turnout of about 40 percent due to voters’ fear of contagion, with polls due to open at 7 am and close at 9 pm.

More than 18 million Romanians are eligible to cast a vote, but analysts expect turnout of about 40 percent 

Opinion polls give Orban’s PNL about 28-30 percent of the vote and 24-26 percent for the PSD. A September poll put PNL at 35% against PSD’s 20 percent.

If it wins on Sunday, the PNL is expected to seek a governing coalition with progressive USR-Plus party, running on 15-17 percent.

With a year-on-year contraction of 6.0 percent in the third quarter, Romania’s economic performance was among the worst in the European Union during the pandemic, although the PNL says it has sought to keep much of the economy open.

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“As all countries have found, it is immensely difficult to strike a balance between keeping people safe and protecting livelihoods,” Siegfried Mureșan, a PNL member of the European Parliament said.

The PSD blamed the government, however, for going too far, by shutting indoor farmers’ markets during the cold winter time.

“You need to vote to rescue yourself,” PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu said on his Facebook page. “Romanians want a government to stop this virus and bring back hope, reopen schools, create safe jobs and decent pensions.”