The Social Democratic Party got the largest share of votes in Romania's November 30 2008 elections, estimated on the basis of exit polls at 36 per cent, prompting the country's Liberal and centre-right forces to make contact with each other about coalition talks to keep the social democrats from forming the next government.

An INSOMAR exit poll quoted by Romanian media gave the Social Democratic Party, led by Mircea Geoana and in effect the successor to the country's communist-era ruling party, 36.2 per cent of vote in the lower house of parliament, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 30.3 per cent. The National Liberal Party, currently in power, placed third with 20.4 per cent, a result that had been predicted by pre-election opinion surveys.

Media reports quoted Romania's Central Electoral Bureau as assessing voter turnout at less than 40 per cent, a low figure ascribed in part to the country's long weekend.

Romanian daily Cotidianul said on December 1 2008 that even though the Social Democrats had the largest share of votes, they had no guarantee of forming a government.

Daily newspaper Libera quoted prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu as saying that his party's share of the vote had shown that support for it had grown in recent years.