Traian Basescu

Romania was beset by a political power struggle with endless squabbling in a highly-charged political standoff. The stakes are high. Basescu, a former oil tanker captain and president of Romania since 2004, had previously accused Ponta of attempting to stage a coup and take control of independent institutions. The political battle sent Romania's currency, the leu, to record lows, and hurt investor confidence.

Defying predictions in the media and by political insiders from all political persuasions, center-right National Liberal-Democratic (PNL-PD) alliance candidate and Bucharest Mayor Traian Basescu has emerged as the winner of Romania's December 12 second-round presidential run-off elections. With 99 percent of the vote counted, the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) announced early afternoon December 13 that Basescu held 51.23 percent of the vote compared to 48.77 percent for ruling Social Democratic-Humanist party (PSD-PUR) union candidate Prime Minister Adrian Nastase.

After his election in 2004, Traian Basescu announced from the beginning of his term that he was going to assume a more active role than previous presidents, and this caused frequent altercations with the Prime Minister. The domestic political environment deteriorated significantly over the following four years, hamstrung by sharp conflicts between President Traian Basescu's Democratic Party (PD) and Prime Minister Calin Pospescu Tariceanu's National Liberal Party (PNL).

Parts of Basescu's political problems were self-made; he was described famously by one opposition politician as "a lone wolf" and his style is direct and confrontational. A standard accusation against the parties of the center-right was that they would lapse into infighting if elected to government. Indeed, this was the fatal flaw of the 1996-2000 center-right government - a point the PSD successfully stressed during its "comeback" presidential and parliamentary election victories in the 2000 elections and also highlighted during the 2004 elections.

In March 2007, Traian Basescu refused to sign the appointment decree as Foreign Minister of Adrian Cioroianu, so Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced that he will take over for a limited time, on an interim basis, the responsibilities of the Minister of Foreign Affairs , until the blocking state is resolved. In April 2007, the Constitutional Court ruled that "The Romanian President's refusal to appoint a member of the Government on a proposal by the Prime Minister has generated a constitutional jurisdictional conflict. [...] The President of Romania has no right of veto but he can ask for Prime Minister to withdraw his proposal if he finds that the person proposed does not meet the legal conditions to be a member of the Government. " On the same day, Cioroianu took over as Foreign Minister. Basescu was temporarily suspended from the presidency in 2007. A national referendum back then allowed him to remain in office.

After a hard-fought campaign and narrow electoral victory, Traian Basescu was sworn in for a second five-year term as president on 21 December 2009. In his inaugural address, Basescu said that the suspicion and mistrust bred by the vicious election campaign should be put aside, and he urged all political parties, the church, unions, and the Romanian Diaspora to participate in the effort to modernize the country. Basescu said that his priorities are to continue judicial reforms and fight corruption, reform education, modernize agriculture and build infrastructure, and implement the 22 November 2009 referendum which called for a unicameral Parliament and a reduction in the number of Parliamentarians to under 300. Basescu recognized that implementing the non-binding referendum would be unpopular in Parliament but noted that Romanians, irrespective of party affiliation, support it, adding that Parliament must implement reforms as soon as possible, or risk "political and moral disqualification." In the November 22 referendum, 77 percent voted for a one-chamber Parliament and 88 percent for not more than 300 MPs.

The conservative Basescu had become unpopular to some Romanians due to wage cuts and tax hikes in 2009 and 2011 brokered under two financing deals with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Romania was rocked by political turmoil after parliament suspended President Traian Basescu from office 07 July 2012, paving the way for a referendum on his future later this month. The procedure comes despite European Union and U.S. concerns over the status of democracy in the former communist nation. Basescu was suspended from his job Saturday after 256 legislators voted in favor of a procedure that could lead to him being permanently removed from office. Only 114 lawmakers were against the action.

Basescu survived a similar vote in 2007. Analysts say he faces a tougher challenge this time, in part because of his declining popularity in a period of economic crisis in this nation of 19 million people.

Romanians voted in a referendum to decide whether to impeach their president in a bitter feud between center-right President Traian Basescu and his rival, center-left Prime Minister Victor Ponta. The president's opponents accused him of overstepping his powers and violating the country's constitution. After Romania's parliament suspended Basescu earlier this month, Ponta's Social-Liberal Union took power and immediately moved to remove the president. Basescu says the impeachment process is a political vendetta.

Basescu survived the 2012 referendum on his impeachment after an insufficient number of voters turned out to cast ballots. Election officials said the voter turnout 29 July 2012 was close to 46 percent, but did not reach the required 50 percent. Basescu said Romanians invalidated the referendum by not participating. More than 87 percent of those who did cast ballots voted for Basescu to be removed from office.

The country's parliament suspended Basescu earlier in July after his opponents led by center-left Prime Minister Victor Ponta accused him of violating the constitution. Ponta's Social-Liberal Union took power and immediately started the process of removing the president. Basescu says the impeachment process was a political vendetta. He is set to be reinstated and continue his term until it ends in 2014.

Romania's top court on 21 August 2012 ruled that the impeachment vote of president Traian Basescu was invalid. While the move allowed Basescu to be reinstated, Prime Minister Victor Ponta criticized the ruling. Basescu, who was impeached in a 29 July referendum, had been locked in a bitter political battle with Prime Minister Ponta, his political rival. The power struggle has been interpreted by some outside analysts as a test of Romania's democracy two decades after the violent overthrow of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

The judges' decision was adopted with a majority vote of six to three, a margin Ponta had previously stated was the bare minimum for him to accept the court's decision. "I took note of the court decision and as previously announced, we will obey the decision," said Crin Antonescu, a co-leader of Ponta's leftist Social Liberal Union (USL). Antonescu had been serving as acting president in Basescu's absence.

Yet while Antonescu said the USL would accept the court's decision, Ponta stated he does not - though he will abide by it. "The Constitutional Court's ruling was illegal, unjust and politically motivated," Ponta told a press conference. He added that he felt the decision was "contrary to democratic rules ... and violated legislation." He also pledged to "continue to defend Romanians from a repressive and oppressive regime."

Basescu's impeachment, originally launched by Ponta, required a 50 percent turnout to be binding. However, only 46 percent of the eligible electorate took part - leading to the need for the constitutional court to rule on the vote's validity.

"We stated that the referendum quorum condition was not met," chief judge Augustin Zegrean told reporters. A decision by the court was originally due August 2, but was delayed due to the highly charged nature of the decision.

"Basescu's political survival would suggest that tension with Prime Minister Victor Ponta will continue, with the potential for a renewed escalation later on in the year," said Otilia Simkova, an analyst with the Eurasia group, referencing parliamentary elections to be held in November. "Continuing political tension and forthcoming elections are not conducive to coherent policymaking."

The power struggle was seen as hurting Romania's democracy. The European Union has in the past accused Ponta of undermining the rule of law and intimidating judges.