Posted on 11/27/2004 1:09:51 PM PST by Cutterjohnmhb
Romanians go to the polls tomorrow to elect a new president. They will also be chosing a new parliament. Eighteen million people are eligible to vote in this election in a country still plagued by rampant corruption and where the gap between rich and poor is growing as fast as the economy.
To prove its determination to organise a fair vote and avoid a crisis like the one which is unfolding in neighbouring Ukraine, Romania has said rival parties could organise parallel vote counting.
The European watchdog the OSCE will also be overseeing the election.
It is going to be a tight race with the two main candidates running neck and neck in the polls.
(Excerpt) Read more at euronews.net ...
I picked this article because it dealt with voting fraud...... Here's a BBC article with more background on the election http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4042675.stm
Thanks for the informative articles and description of the parties in Romania.
In Romania, the ruling party is also leaning to the West:
"During the SDP's last four years in power, Romania has joined NATO, is moving toward joining EU and has registered record 8.1 percent economic growth this year. Romanians no longer need visas to travel to most of Western Europe.
Nastase's message is that he's a strong leader best equipped to bring Romania into the EU, largely because of his close personal ties to Western leaders."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Romania's%20Challenge
The opposition, while claiming more reforms and more West leaning seems to be more socially liberal, as in for gay marriage and adoption, rather than more economically Western oriented, at least according to some articles.
"But his (Basescu's) outspokenness has also played tricks on him, and he has recently had to backtrack after saying he was in favor of gay marriages, a statement which sparked harsh criticism from the Orthodox church. "
http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/041126035948.49y10p6i
It seems like people don't care much about Romania, do they.
Update:
Romanians Vote with Eye on EU, Poverty and Graft
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041128/wl_nm/romania_elections_dc
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanians, angered by poverty and corruption, started voting on Sunday in a closely contested election to decide who will lead the Balkan country through two years of hard European Union (news - web sites)-dictated reforms.
At 0500 GMT, about 18 million voters began casting ballots at 17,000 polling stations from the Carpathians to the Black Sea, to choose between the ruling ex-communist PSD and a centrist alliance of the Liberal and Democrat parties.
Sunday's twin election to replace veteran President Ion Iliescu and elect a new parliament is the most hotly contested vote since the 1989 collapse of communism, analysts say.
Thanks for the background and updates .....
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