| Low turnout may help Romanian president escape impeachment |
BUCHAREST The Romanian government’s drive to remove President Traian Basescu hung in the balance on Sunday as turnout in a referendum on whether to impeach him remained stubbornly low, well below the 50 per cent level needed for a valid vote.
The election bureau said turnout was 26.9 per cent by 5pm (1400 GMT), suggesting that Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) would find it hard to get half the electorate to vote by the time polls close at 11pm.
Ponta, whose government took office in May, has suspended Basescu and is holding a referendum to seek popular backing for his impeachment for overstepping his powers. The president is unpopular for backing austerity and for perceptions of cronyism.
The methods Ponta has used in his efforts to unseat Basescu have brought a stern dressing-down from the EU, which accused him of undermining the rule of law and intimidating judges.
Opinion polls show some 65 per cent 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, a disparate alliance from across the political spectrum, is struggling to get half the electorate to vote.
“I voted to take him down because he cut my pension and he doesn’t deserve to be in power,” said Sandu Neacsu, a 66-year-old pensioner from Pantelimon near the capital Bucharest.
Many people are on holiday and the temperature hit 39 degree Celsius, prompting the government to set up extra polling stations to make it easier to vote.
Voting was briefly suspended at several polling stations across the country because of irregularities with voting stamps.
Reuters
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