Romanians fearful that the global economic crisis will bring layoffs and painful belt-tightening went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament, a vote expected to deliver a rebuke to pro-Western leaders many see as out of touch. Just a few weeks ago, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu suggested publicly that the nation of 22 million was somehow immune to the meltdown gripping the faltering world economy. But a string of grim economic news stories punctured that optimism and has given the left-wing Social Democrats their best chance in years of winning this weekend's elections. Tariceanu's center-right Liberal Party has lagged far behind in recent polls with about 20 percent support. Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT). For the first time, Romanians were choosing from among individual candidates instead of party lists as they fill seats in the 452-member parliament. “I voted for certainty and a better future,” said Transportation Minister Ludovic Orban after he cast his ballot in Bucharest. Turnout was expected to be low due to widespread distrust in politicians _ perhaps the lowest since a bloody revolt toppled communism in 1989. “We hope for the better _ to eliminate the daily stress of not knowing what the future holds,” one voter, Musca Augustin, said on the eve of the election. President Traian Basescu said he hoped the new voting system would result in a Parliament of “those with experience who have already been in power, and the courage and cleanness of those coming behind them, the young generation.” Critics of Tariceanu's minority government contend it has exposed Romania to financial disaster through the same free-market policies that helped bring it into the European Union in 2007.
