Centrist President Traian Basescu will face a socialist former foreign minister in a Dec. 6 runoff presidential election, partial results showed yesterday, in a race key to helping Romania emerge from a political and economic crisis.
Basescu polled 32.8 percent of the vote, while Mircea Geoana scored 29.2 percent, election authorities said in first official results based on some 48 percent of the vote counted. Conservative opposition leader Crin Antonescu polled 20.8 percent, finishing third in a field of a dozen candidates.
Romania’s government collapsed last month amid squabbling between the two-party coalition, and the IMF has delayed access to a 1.5 billion euros (US$2 billion) bailout loan while the country struggles to set up a new government.
The president is key to reviving the government because he nominates a prime minister, whom parliament must then approve and who would be responsible for forming a new coalition.
Reports of possible fraud in Sunday’s election emerged as far more people than normal cast ballots at 3,500 special voting centers that were set up for Romanians who need to vote outside their area of residence because they are traveling. The Electoral Committee said more than 430,000 people voted at such locations, and witnesses claimed some were being bused there after already having cast ballots elsewhere.
Authorities said two people were arrested in the southern city of Giurgiu for trying to buy votes. There were widespread reports throughout the country about people being offered incentives — from sugar, oil or blankets, to flowers in exchange for votes.
Voters also took part in a referendum on Sunday asking if they want to reduce the number of lawmakers in parliament and abolish one of its two houses. Basescu, who called the referendum, wants a one-chamber parliament with a maximum of 300 lawmakers, down from the current 471. Critics say a smaller parliament would lead to the president having too much power. Partial results showed Romanians overwhelmingly voting to reduce the number of lawmakers and remove one chamber.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
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