President Basescu to face Geoana in Dec. 6 run-off, partial results show

Early partial results indicate that incumbent President Traian Basescu (right) narrowly won the first round of Romania's presidential election on Sunday but will face leftist challenger Mircea Geoana in a December 6 runoff.

Reuters - President Traian Basescu led by a slim margin in the first round of Romania’s presidential election on Monday and was set to face leftist leader Mircea Geoana in a Dec. 6 run-off, official partial results showed.

 

After counts from nearly 50 percent of polling stations, the Central Electoral Bureau said Basescu had 33 percent of the votes from Sunday’s ballot while Geoana was on 29 percent.

 

The slim margin gave few clues as to who would form the next government to resolve Romania’s economic crisis.

 

The president has little impact on day-to-day running of the country but nominates the next prime minister, who will have to form a coalition cabinet after the previous government’s collapse in October that delayed much-needed IMF aid.

 

Under Romanian law, a second round is needed if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes.

 

Sunday’s ballot had been an obstacle to political stability for months, with Basescu’s Democrat-Liberal Party and Geoana’s Social Democrats unwilling to work together to end the impasse, putting on hold a 20 billion euro IMF aid package and damaging investor confidence.

 

The new government’s main tasks will be to win back the trust of international lenders, including the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, by introducing painful budget cuts to bring the economy out of recession.

 

“What matters at the moment for markets is to have a president and a government as soon as possible and the IMF deal back on track,” said Nicolaie Alexandru-Chidesciuc of ING Bank in Bucharest.

 

Broad reforms are vital. Twenty years after the end of communist rule, the Balkan country of 22 million is one of the poorest and most graft-prone corners of the European Union.

 

The economy is expected to shrink by up to 8 percent in 2009, millions of Romanians live on less than 100 euros ($149) a month and no top officials accused of graft have been convicted.
 

Date created : 2009-11-22