Romania's ex-communist Social Democrats appear to have taken the lead in the general election but the shape of the next government is far from clear.
Romania's opposition Liberal Democrats and Social Democrats are running neck-and-neck in general elections, partial results show.
Exit polls predict that the Social Democrats will get about 36% of the vote in the first such election since Romania joined the EU last year.
With 71% of the vote counted, President Traian Basescu's centrist Liberal Democrats (PDL) had won about 34%.
The global economic downturn seems to have hurt the governing National Liberals which are forecast to win 20%.
The ex-communist Social Democrats (PSD) had taken 33%, while the ruling National Liberals (PNL) polled 18%.
Its former allies, the Liberal Democrats, are said to have won 31%.
Tough coalition talks are expected if these figures are confirmed, as none of the parties would have a majority.
The Social Democrats campaigned on promises to increase welfare payments.
Earlier, exit polls predicted that the Social Democrats would win the elections - the first polls since Romania joined the EU at the beginning of last year.
There have been no official results so far.
'Strains of governing'
If the official results confirm these figures, tough negotiations can be expected, with the Social Democrats trying to woo one or other of their centre-right rivals, as well as the small ethnic Hungarian party, to enter a coalition with them, BBC Eastern Europe correspondent Nick Thorpe says.
Squabbles between President Traian Basescu of the PDL and Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu of the PNL wrecked their coalition in 2007.
President Traian Basescu said before the election that he would prefer a centre-right government.
Since then Mr Popescu Tariceanu's minority government has been tacitly supported in parliament by the PSD and an ethnic Hungarian party, which is polling about 6% of the vote in Sunday's elections.
Falling-out
President Basescu said before the polls that he would prefer a centre-right government.
Squabbles between Mr Basescu of the Liberal Democrats and Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu of the National Liberals wrecked their coalition.
He is not obliged by law to nominate a prime minister from the winning party.
The ethnic Hungarian party is said to have come fourth with just under 7% of the vote.
In the 19 years since the Romanian revolution, the left has traditionally shown more discipline while centre-right alliances have achieved dramatic election victories but have broken up under the strains of governing, BBC Eastern Europe correspondent Nick Thorpe says.
For the first time, the 18 million Romanians eligible to vote chose from among individual candidates instead of party lists as they filled seats in the 452-member parliament.
Our correspondent says the complex voting system has led some observers to express concerns about the possibility of fraud.
In the 19 years since the Romanian revolution, the left have traditionally shown more discipline while centre-right alliances have achieved dramatic election victories but broke up under the strains of governing, our correspondent adds.
