Romanian election on knife edge

Opposition supporters celebrate but both candidates sense victory

Votes are still being counted in Romania after a presidential election that appears too close to call.

Exit polls give Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and Traian Basescu an equal number of votes after Sunday's run-off.

But aides to the opposition candidate claim he has narrowly beaten the prime minister with a 51.6% majority.

There are no official results yet. But if the tally remains as close, the fairness of the election will be carefully scrutinised, say analysts.

The next leader is due to take Romania into the European Union in 2007.

Whoever ends up in charge will face a tough task of speeding up reforms necessary for EU membership, says the BBC's Nick Thorpe in the capital, Bucharest.

Initial partial and official results are expected shortly.

Mr Nastase, the governing party candidate, won the first round on 28 November, with 41% of the vote compared to Mr Basescu's 34%.

Our correspondent says the apparent tie has been interpreted by opposition supporters as evidence of a significant shift in support towards Mr Basescu, after Mr Nastase's seven-percentage point advantage in the first round.

Although presidential powers in Romania are limited, the head of state will play a pivotal role in the hung parliament.

It is up to the president to nominate the next prime minister.

Singing and dancing

The opposition campaign said on Monday that their claim of victory for their man was based on their own count from 92% of polling stations.

"We are confident that the official result will be close to this," Mr Basescu's campaign chief Cozmin Gusa told Reuters news agency.

Exit polls show that the candidates are tied

Supporters of the opposition candidate spilled out onto the streets of the capital on Sunday evening, clutching orange flags and balloons and singing and dancing.

Mr Basescu, who is mayor of Bucharest, urged them to celebrate peacefully and quit the square until Monday evening.

But hundreds of his supporters remain in University Square.

"If Basescu doesn't win. We will have a second Ukraine. I will stay here until they get rid of Nastase," Dan Jijiev, a 34-year-old engineer told the Associated Press news agency.

Pivotal role

There has been no comment so far from the Nastase camp.

On Sunday, the prime minister said the official count on Monday would hand him a victory and declared: "I will be a strong president."

The ruling Social Democrats need Mr Nastase to win if they are to hold on to power after no party won a clear majority in parliamentary elections two weeks ago.

The Social Democrats 189 of the 469 seats, while Mr Basescu's Justice and Truth Alliance won 161.

Mr Nastase has said he would nominate Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana as the new prime minister while Mr Basescu proposed his political running-mate, Calin Tariceanu, for the job.