Romania faces further uncertainty as election fails to deliver president

CRISIS-HIT ROMANIA faces another period of political uncertainty, after Sunday’s presidential election failed to deliver a winner and an opposition leader threw his support behind the challenger to incumbent Traian Basescu.

Mr Basescu will face Mircea Geoana in a run-off on December 6th, after results from threequarters of polling stations showed the current president took 33 per cent of votes compared to 30 per cent for his nearest rival, a former foreign minister who leads the Social Democrats (PSD).

The winner in two weeks will have to name a new prime minister who is capable of forming a viable government in a deeply divided parliament, and then help tackle the major economic problems that forced Romania to seek €20 billion in aid from foreign lenders.

The International Monetary Fund suspended payment of the latest tranche of that loan after the PSD left the ruling coalition led by the centre-right Democratic Liberals, allies of Mr Basescu, who say they are determined to make severe spending cuts and to crack down on Romania’s rampant corruption.

The PSD and the other main opposition party, the National Liberals, have since rejected Mr Basescu’s candidates for prime minister, and analysts fear he may struggle to find a suitable candidate to form a new government if he wins a second term as head of state.

But while Mr Geoana may have a better chance of winning parliamentary approval for a new premier and cabinet, experts warn that he is also more likely to water down vital reforms, reject painful cutbacks and go soft on the fight against Romania’s ubiquitous graft.

“The vote was profoundly in favour of the right wing. This is an extremely serious issue to take into account when forming the next government,” Mr Basescu said, hinting at a bid for the second-round votes of National Liberal supporters.

But that party’s leader immediately dealt a blow to the abrasive Mr Basescu, a plain-speaking former ship’s captain who has made many enemies during his five years in power. “I rule out any collaboration with Traian Basescu and any support for Traian Basescu,” said National Liberal chief Crin Antonescu, who came third on Sunday with about 21 per cent of votes.

“A victory for Basescu would put Romania’s democracy in danger.”

Mr Geoana made swift overtures to the National Liberals by confirming that he would nominate a candidate that they support for prime minister should he become president next month; they agreed on Klaus Johannis, mayor of the Transylvanian city of Sibiu.

“On December 6th we will win together,” Mr Geoana told his supporters.

“It is then the hardest work will begin: we need to unite the country after five years of scandals and discord.”

Commentators said a Geoana victory could be a mixed blessing.

“Geoana would have an easier task to get a government in place,” said Daniel Hewitt of Barclays Capital in London.

“But the problem is that it’s not so clear what a Geoana government could do.”