Romanians vote in presidential runoff
November 16, 2014
Romanians were going to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president to replace outgoing President Traian Basescu, who is not allowed to run for a third time and is stepping down after ten years in the post.
The overwhelming favorite to win the poll is current Social Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta (seen in picture above with his family), who finished with a ten percent lead over his rival, Klaus Iohannis, in the first round on November 2.
Ponta, 42, has promised tax cuts and pension rises if elected, and has successfully managed to fend off any major negative impact to his campaign from corruption probes targeting several of his senior aides in recent weeks.
The 55-year-old Iohannis, the mayor of the city of Sibiu, has promised to strengthen the rule of law with an independent justice system. The country's judiciary has been under special EU supervision since Romania joined the bloc in 2007.
Iohannis, a conservative, has also pledged to draw more foreign capital to the country, the second poorest in the European Union after Bulgaria.
During the campaign, Iohannis has faced accusations of not being a "real Romanian" owing to his ethnic German background.
Unknown factor
Only 160,000 of the some three million Romanians living abroad were able to vote in the first round owing to an insufficient number of polling stations in countries including France, Germany and Britain. Of those that did manage to vote, 46 percent favored Iohannis and just 15.8 percent Ponta.
A larger expat turnout could thus possibly undermine Ponta's apparently unassailable lead, with the government saying it has now improved voting procedures in other countries to enable all to cast their ballot.
The office of president in Romania is a powerful one, with the holder able to appoint the prime minister, judges and prosecutors.
Sunday's winner will face the challenge of tackling the problems of corruption and tax evasion, which are rife in the country. Romania has a population of about 20 million.
tj/se (Reuters, AFP)