Romanians vote for president

22/11/2009

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Romanians went to the polls on Sunday (November 22nd) to vote for their next head of state. The presidential election was the first in the country since it joined the EU in January 2007. More than 18 million people have the right to cast their ballots in the 21,400 polling stations across the country and the 300 abroad, mostly in Italy and Spain. Twelve candidates will compete for the post. According to the latest polls, incumbent President Traian Basescu and Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate Mircea Geoana are the front-runners and will probably face a runoff vote on December 6th. Polls suggest turnout will under 50%.

Besides voting for presidents, Romanians will also be able to decide in a referendum whether they want their country's parliament to be restructured from a bicameral to a unicameral one and to reduce the number of lawmakers in it from 471 to 300. (AFP, Mediafax, Hotnews.ro, Reuters, Euronews - 22/11/09)