The Alliance for Romanians' Union (AUR) party leader George Simion and Bucharest's general mayor Nicusor Dan are leading in voter preferences for the presidential elections in May, with only a three-percentage-point gap between them, according to an IRSOP poll conducted April 4-14.

According to the sociological research, 31% of Romanians said they would vote for George Simion if the presidential election were held the next day, 28% for Nicusor Dan, 18% for Victor Ponta, 17% for Crin Antonescu, and 4% for Elena Lasconi. The other candidates - Cristian Terhes, Lavinia Sandru, John-Ion Banu-Muscel, Silviu Predoiu, Daniel Funeriu, Sebastian Constantin Popescu - would collectively receive 2% of the vote.

When asked which candidate is most capable of improving people's well-being, fighting corruption, being a strong leader, keeping promises, maintaining national stability, supporting the business environment, and strengthening Romania's position in the EU, 27% of Romanians pointed to George Simion, 20% to Nicusor Dan, 20% to Victor Ponta, 14% to Crin Antonescu, 4% to Elena Lasconi, while 15% said they didn't know.

The poll also surveyed opinions about political parties. Regarding AUR, 34% of respondents had a fairly positive opinion, and 63% a rather negative one; the National Liberal Party (PNL) - 26% positive, 70% negative; the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) - 26% positive, 66% negative; the Save Romania Union (USR) - 25% positive, 70% negative; the Young People's Party (POT) - 22% positive, 64% negative; the Social Democratic Party (PSD) - 20% positive, 76% negative; and S.O.S. Romania - 13% positive, 81% negative.

For this survey, IRSOP conducted telephone interviews with 1,030 people between April 4 and 14. The sample is representative of the Romanian population aged 18 and over. The margin of error is +/-3%. The poll is a public information service fully funded by IRSOP. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Alina Novaceanu; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)