European elections poll: Liberals gain solid lead over PSD; Liviu Dragnea's party risks losing second place to USR-PLUS

The latest poll ahead of the May 26 European Parliament elections in Romania, conducted by IMAS at the request of Europa FM, shows the National Liberal Party (PNL) having a significant lead over the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), while the newly-formed USR-PLUS Alliance is approaching the 20 percent mark.

The poll released today puts PNL in a solid first place with 28.5 percent, with PSD lagging behind at 21.1 percent. USR-PLUS’s score (19.6 percent) could even threaten PSD’s position in second place if a large number of unlikely young voters come out to the polls on Sunday.

Former prime minister Victor Ponta’s party, PRO Romania, is on fourth place with 9.9 percent, followed closely by PSD’s coalition partner ALDE, led by Senate president Calin Popescu Tariceanu, with 9.8 percent. In sixth place is former president Traian Basescu’s party, PMP, with 6.2 percent. The UDMR, which represents the Hungarian minority, has dropped to 3.8 percent, which is below the 5 percent eligibility threshold that would allow it to gain a seat in the European Parliament.

The IMAS poll, conducted between May 2 and 20 by phone, had 1,010 respondents and has an error margin of +/- 3.1 percent.

An earlier poll conducted by INSCOP at the request of the Romanian Academy, between April 12 and May 3, showed the PSD and PNL parties neck to neck at 26.4 and 26.1 percent, respectively, therefore the Liberals have made significant gains in the meantime. In the INSCOP poll, USR PLUS had a higher score than it does in the latest poll, of 20.1 percent.

Other notable changes from the earlier poll were recorded for PMP, which has almost doubled its score from 3.5 to 6.2 percent and thus now has a score that would exceed the 5 percent threshold for the EP.