Romania's ruling center-left Social Democrats were poised to secure the most votes in Sunday's parliamentary election, according to preliminary results published Monday.

Exit polls showed the PSD winning 26% of votes, ahead of the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) at 19%. The PSD has 32.5% of seats in the current parliament, while AUR has 8.5%.

Romanian centrist and leftist parties looked to have fended off a surge by the nationalist right in Sunday's parliamentary election, as attention turned to a top court ruling later on Monday on whether to annul the results of a presidential vote.

The leftist Social Democratic Party topped the polls in Sunday's vote and the far-right nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians came in second.

Romania's Constitutional Court on Monday validated the shock first-round result in its presidential election, setting the stage for a run-off vote on Dec. 8 that could upend the country's pro-Western orientation and erode backing for Ukraine.

The election comes after a pro-Russia nationalist candidate secured victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential election last month. At 25 per cent, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu’s centre-left PSD party won the largest share of the vote in the general election,

Romania’s ruling leftist Social Democrats (PSD) looked set to win the most votes in a parliamentary election on Sunday, defeating a resurgent far-Right movement challenging the country’s pro-Western orientation,