SALON

Sunday, Dec 9, 2012 6:15 AM UTC

Romanian gov’t expected to win bitter elections

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Romanian gov't expected to win bitter electionsCORRECTS DATE TO DEC. 5 A man walks past, backdropped by a large electoral poster for the ruling Social Liberal Union, right, and a movie poster at left, in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. Romania will hold parliamentary elections on Dec. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)(Credit: AP)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian’s center-left government is expected to win a comfortable victory in Sunday parliamentary elections, but the result could lead to more of the political instability that has plagued the impoverished Balkan nation this year.

President Traian Basescu must nominate the prime minister, and he has indicated he may not appoint current Premier Victor Ponta even if his coalition wins a majority. The two have been embroiled in a bitter personal feud since Ponta tried and failed to impeach the center-right Basescu in July.

If Basescu refuses to appoint Ponta, it would cause a political standoff. Basescu could nominate someone else, but his choice would have to be approved by Parliament. If his candidate fails in two rounds of voting, Parliament could be dissolved.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT). Election authorities said some 250 polling stations were unable to open on time in some parts of Romania due to heavy snow.

Many Romanians are fed up with the power struggle between Basescu and Ponta, especially as the country remains one of the poorest and most corrupt members of the European Union. The country is enduring deep austerity cuts in return for a €20-million ($26-million) bailout to help its foundering economy.

More than 18 million Romanians are eligible to vote in Sunday’s ballot to elect 452 representatives of a two-chamber Parliament for the next four years. Parties need at least 5 percent of the vote to secure a seat in the two-chamber legislature.

Polls put Ponta’s Union of Socialist Liberals at about 57 percent, with Basescu allies, the center-right Just Romania Alliance, second with about 20 percent. The populist party of media tycoon Dan Diaconescu has profited from the rancor, coming in third with about 15 percent.

Besides the failed bid to impeach Basescu, the country has seen three prime ministers and Cabinets this year and huge anti-austerity protests. The European Union and the United States criticized the government for failing to respect the rule of law and of abusing constitutional rules over the impeachment attempt.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will monitor Sunday’s vote.

More By Alison Mutler.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations