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Basescu faces impeachment referendum
Source: Agencies |
July 30, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ROMANIANS voted yesterday on whether to impeach unpopular president, Traian Basescu, after a government campaign to remove him drew international criticism of its methods and raised doubts about the country's IMF aid deal.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta's leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) has suspended Basescu and its drive to unseat him has brought a stern dressing-down from Brussels, which accused him of undermining the rule of law and intimidating judges.
Ponta's government took office in May and is holding the referendum to seek popular backing for the impeachment of Basescu for overstepping his powers. He is unpopular for backing austerity and for perceptions of cronyism.
Opinion polls show some 65 percent of Romanians want to remove the former sea captain from office, but the opposition has called for a boycott of the vote and the USL is struggling to get the turnout of more than 50 percent needed for a valid vote.
"I am not a fan of Basescu but I will not vote because I do not approve of the way the government stepped on laws to have their way," said Dan Popescu, a 52-year-old pensioner.
Many people are on holiday and the temperature is expected to hit 39 Celsius degrees, prompting the government to set up extra polling stations, many of them at seaside restaurants and hotels, to make it easier to vote.
After three hours of voting, the election bureau said turnout was 9.1 percent by 10am (0700 GMT), suggesting it could be very close to 50 percent by the time polls close at 11pm.
Basescu and his allies, the opposition Democrat Liberal Party (PDL), asked their supporters to boycott the referendum.
The suspended president initially urged Romanians to vote against what he called a coup d'etat, but his stance shifted this week when he and his PDL allies said they were concerned about the possibility of electoral fraud.
The government had tried to make it easier to impeach Basescu by removing the minimum turnout rule but was forced to back down by harsh EU criticism and a Constitutional Court ruling that a 50 percent turnout was obligatory.
"I hope the voting presence will be decisive and ... that by the end of this day we will know and enforce the will of a majority of citizens," interim president and USL co-leader Crin Antonescu said after voting.
The row over Basescu has delayed policymaking, raised doubts about Romania's 5 billion euro International Monetary Fund-led aid deal, sent the leu currency plunging to record lows, and pushed up borrowing costs.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta's leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) has suspended Basescu and its drive to unseat him has brought a stern dressing-down from Brussels, which accused him of undermining the rule of law and intimidating judges.
Ponta's government took office in May and is holding the referendum to seek popular backing for the impeachment of Basescu for overstepping his powers. He is unpopular for backing austerity and for perceptions of cronyism.
Opinion polls show some 65 percent of Romanians want to remove the former sea captain from office, but the opposition has called for a boycott of the vote and the USL is struggling to get the turnout of more than 50 percent needed for a valid vote.
"I am not a fan of Basescu but I will not vote because I do not approve of the way the government stepped on laws to have their way," said Dan Popescu, a 52-year-old pensioner.
Many people are on holiday and the temperature is expected to hit 39 Celsius degrees, prompting the government to set up extra polling stations, many of them at seaside restaurants and hotels, to make it easier to vote.
After three hours of voting, the election bureau said turnout was 9.1 percent by 10am (0700 GMT), suggesting it could be very close to 50 percent by the time polls close at 11pm.
Basescu and his allies, the opposition Democrat Liberal Party (PDL), asked their supporters to boycott the referendum.
The suspended president initially urged Romanians to vote against what he called a coup d'etat, but his stance shifted this week when he and his PDL allies said they were concerned about the possibility of electoral fraud.
The government had tried to make it easier to impeach Basescu by removing the minimum turnout rule but was forced to back down by harsh EU criticism and a Constitutional Court ruling that a 50 percent turnout was obligatory.
"I hope the voting presence will be decisive and ... that by the end of this day we will know and enforce the will of a majority of citizens," interim president and USL co-leader Crin Antonescu said after voting.
The row over Basescu has delayed policymaking, raised doubts about Romania's 5 billion euro International Monetary Fund-led aid deal, sent the leu currency plunging to record lows, and pushed up borrowing costs.
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