Parliamentary polls in Romania have opened with Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu's Liberals under threat of losing control of power.

Voting began at 7am (0500GMT) on Sunday with opinion polls in the preceding week giving the leftist Social Democrats and right-wing Liberal Democrats between 32 and 35 per cent support, while the Liberals are on 20 per cent.

Tariceanu is believed to have lost support in recent weeks after he suggested publicly that the country's 22 million residents would be immune from the global financial crisis.

Since then consecutive dismal economic news in the Eastern European nation has given the Social Democrats their best chance of winning an election in years.

The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) is virtually certain to also return to parliament - continuing its presence in government since 1996.

Tariceanu's minority government has brought in free-market economic policies that helped the country achieve EU status in 2007, but are now critcised for exposing it to financial disaster.

Economic fears

Mircea Geoana, the Social Democrat's leader, has capitalised on negativity surrounding pro-Western leaders and fears that years of unprecedented economic growth are giving way to job losses.

In the sixth election since Communism was ended by a bloody revolt in 1989, Romanians will, for the first time, be choosing among individual candidates for senators and deputies rather than party lists to fill the 452-member parliament.

Additionally, they will not elect a president at the same time this time, as his mandate was extended by an extra year to five years in 2004.

However, President Traian Basescu, an ally of the Liberal Democrats, has the power to name the next prime minister no matter who wins.

Voter turnout is not expected to be high, with many citizens disillusioned about politics and what they perceive to be corrupt politicians.

Participation may also be hampered by a national holiday the day after the vote.

Polls close at 9pm (1900GMT) on Sunday with initial results to be published on Monday morning.