Romanians to vote for president amid political crisis, economic slump

Romanians vote for president amid political crisis

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanians voted for a new president Sunday, hoping to end a leadership crisis that threatens a euro1.5 billion ($2 billion) IMF loan their country desperately needs to ease a painful recession.

As they cast their ballots, President Traian Basescu, 58, and his main rival, former Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, 51, described the election as one of the most important votes Romania has had since the 1989 fall of communism.

Yet reports of possible fraud soon emerged as far more people than normal were casting ballots at special voting centers that are set up for Romanians who need to vote outside their area of residence because they are traveling.

The Electoral Committee said more than 305,000 people were voting at such locations, and witnesses claimed some were being bused there after already having cast ballots elsewhere. For instance, Economy Minister Adriean Videanu called for a halt to “electoral tourism” in Moara Vlasie, near Bucharest, saying election authorities there were overwhelmed.

Romania’s government collapsed last month amid squabbling between the two-party coalition, and the International Monetary Fund has delayed access to the bailout loan while the country struggles to set up a new government.

A president is key to reviving the government because he nominates a prime minister, whom Parliament must then approve and who would be responsible for forming a new coalition.

Basescu, who represents Romania’s political center, is running for a second five-year term, while Geoana heads the left-leaning Social Democrats and is head of the Senate.

More than 18 million Romanians are eligible to vote, but none of the dozen candidates is expected to get more than 50 percent in the first round. Polls showed Basescu with only a slight lead over Geoana, which means a runoff election is likely on Dec. 6. By 4 p.m. (1300 GMT), 36 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots, said the Electoral Committee.

Basescu, who no longer belongs to any party because of constitutional requirements, has lost some public support with his stormy relationship with Parliament and the country’s deep economic crisis. Geoana favors a broad coalition government, while Basescu wants to form a government from the Democratic Liberal party he used to lead.

Romania’s economy, already in a deep recession, is expected to shrink some 8.5 percent this year. The country needs the IMF loan to pay state salaries and pensions, but is unlikely to get it this year. That would force 1.3 million state workers to take eight days of unpaid leave in 2009. Unemployment in Romania, one of Europe’s poorest countries, already stands at 7.1 percent, up 3 percent in the last year. About 26,000 companies closed this year due to the recession and the introduction of a new tax.

Voters also were taking part in a referendum on Sunday asking if they want to reduce the number of lawmakers in Parliament and abolish one of its two houses. Basescu, who called the referendum, wants a one-chamber Parliament with a maximum of 300 lawmakers, down from the current 471. Critics say a smaller parliament would lead to the president having too much power. Parliament and the president now share power equally.

Basescu styles himself a patriot with a deep respect for Romanian traditions and an awareness of the concerns of average voters. Critics accuse him of associating with corrupt business people.

Geoana, a former foreign minister and Romanian ambassador to the U.S., lacks Basescu’s popular appeal but is seen as a clever negotiator. His Social Democratic Party is the successor to the Communist Party that ruled Romania for more than 40 years.

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Associated Press writer Alina Wolfe Murray in Bucharest contributed to this report.