BUCHAREST, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Teodor Melescanu was elected president of the Romanian Senate in a run-off on Tuesday. He was supported by the ruling Social Democratic Party.
Melescanu obtained 73 supporting votes from the 136 attending senators, while his competitor, Alina Gorghiu of the main opposition National Liberal Party, received 59 votes. Gorghiu was endorsed not only by her own party but also by the Save Romania Union (USR), the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE).
Three candidates ran for the Senate post. As none of them received majority support from senators present during the first round of voting, the two candidates with the most votes entered the second round, according to the rules.
Former Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, announced his resignation last week, after the party he had led withdrew from the ruling coalition late last month.
This is the first time the Social Democratic Party confronted the opposition in parliament after the collapse of the ruling two-party coalition.
