Al Bhatti
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Pakistan to hold referendum to remove all politicians who have served earlier.
Interesting and good move move right? come on don't dream too much.
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July 29, 2012
Romanian turnout to seal president’s fate
Romanians voted heavily to remove their president but the vote suggested the result of Sunday’s referendum to impeach Traian Basescu seemed almost certain to be declared invalid because turnout was too low.
The bruising clash between the government and president has aroused international concerns about the rule of law and democracy in one of the EU’s newest and poorest members, and sent the country’s currency to a record low.
Exit polls released as polling stations closed at 11pm local time showed that about 87 per cent of those who voted backed the removal of Mr Basescu, president since 2004, with 13 per cent voting against. But Romania’s central electoral bureau estimated the turnout at only 46.1 per cent.
The power struggle between Romania’s top politicians seemed set to continue, however, after officials from the governing coalition insisted the final turnout was above the 50 per cent required for the result to stand.
That could lead to months of further instability in Romania, with political deadlock between the government and president and continued attempts to unseat him.
Mr Basescu was suspended by Romania’s parliament last month for allegedly exceeding his powers as president by interfering too actively in economic policy and other areas supposed to be reserved for the prime minister.
While the popularity of the centre-right president has declined sharply, many Romanians see the referendum as the result of a bitter clash between political clans after a leftist government headed by prime minister Victor Ponta took power in May.
Mr Ponta said on Sunday that 5m had voted to give Mr Basescu a second presidential term in 2009, but 8m had now voted against him in the referendum. The suspended president “must decide to what extent he is still justified to lead the people”, he added.
Mr Basescu said he was preparing to return to the presidential palace and aimed to “generate a feeling of reconciliation in the society”.
“The fracture in society must be eliminated,” he said.
The referendum threatened to make Mr Basescu the latest European leader to fall victim to popular dissatisfaction with austerity measures. Romania pushed through some of the most swingeing public sector wage and benefit cuts in Europe after securing a €20bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the EU in 2009.
Mr Basescu had urged his supporters to boycott the vote as illegitimate, in a gamble aimed at keeping the turnout below the 50 per cent minimum insisted on by Romania’s constitutional court. But the tactic appeared to have increased the size of the majority against him among those who voted.
The turnout was always the biggest question in the referendum in the midst of Romania’s holiday season and a Balkans heatwave that pushed the temperature on polling day to 39 degrees centigrade across much of Romania. The government managed to extend the polling hours from the usual 12 to 16.
Romania’s political crisis has already raised questions about commitments to democracy and fiscal discipline in a growing area of central and south-east Europe. It follows an upset in neighbouring Serbia, where pro-western president Boris Tadic and his governing coalition have been replaced after May elections by a president and prime minister with nationalist pasts.
The EU and the US have demanded that Mr Ponta’s ruling coalition respects the constitution and rule of law; they complain of irregularities in the run-up to last month’s parliamentary suspension of Mr Basescu. Their statements echoed earlier criticisms of the way prime minister Viktor Orbán’s controversial government has entrenched its power in Hungary since 2010.
In towns outside Bucharest, it was difficult to find anyone claiming to have voted against Mr Basescu’s removal. In Fundulea, 40km from the capital, posters carrying the slogan “Fire him!” hung by the roadside.
“They reduced allowances for children,” said Sandricha, 20, an unemployed mother of two who said she had voted “categorically” to remove the president. “Maybe we will have a better life if [Basescu] leaves. We want somebody who will create jobs,” added her friend, Gabriela.
Paraschiava, a 77-year-old pensioner who said she scraped by on a pension of 350 lei (€75) a month, also said she had voted to sack the president. “He cut pensions. He cut my children’s wages. We can’t live with this kind of person,” she said.
Mr Basescu has won some international plaudits for his commitment to budgetary discipline, but has been criticised by Romanians for an allegedly cronyish leadership style and lavish lifestyle.
Romanian turnout to seal president’s fate - FT.com
Interesting and good move move right? come on don't dream too much.
-------
July 29, 2012
Romanian turnout to seal president’s fate
Romanians voted heavily to remove their president but the vote suggested the result of Sunday’s referendum to impeach Traian Basescu seemed almost certain to be declared invalid because turnout was too low.
The bruising clash between the government and president has aroused international concerns about the rule of law and democracy in one of the EU’s newest and poorest members, and sent the country’s currency to a record low.
Exit polls released as polling stations closed at 11pm local time showed that about 87 per cent of those who voted backed the removal of Mr Basescu, president since 2004, with 13 per cent voting against. But Romania’s central electoral bureau estimated the turnout at only 46.1 per cent.
The power struggle between Romania’s top politicians seemed set to continue, however, after officials from the governing coalition insisted the final turnout was above the 50 per cent required for the result to stand.
That could lead to months of further instability in Romania, with political deadlock between the government and president and continued attempts to unseat him.
Mr Basescu was suspended by Romania’s parliament last month for allegedly exceeding his powers as president by interfering too actively in economic policy and other areas supposed to be reserved for the prime minister.
While the popularity of the centre-right president has declined sharply, many Romanians see the referendum as the result of a bitter clash between political clans after a leftist government headed by prime minister Victor Ponta took power in May.
Mr Ponta said on Sunday that 5m had voted to give Mr Basescu a second presidential term in 2009, but 8m had now voted against him in the referendum. The suspended president “must decide to what extent he is still justified to lead the people”, he added.
Mr Basescu said he was preparing to return to the presidential palace and aimed to “generate a feeling of reconciliation in the society”.
“The fracture in society must be eliminated,” he said.
The referendum threatened to make Mr Basescu the latest European leader to fall victim to popular dissatisfaction with austerity measures. Romania pushed through some of the most swingeing public sector wage and benefit cuts in Europe after securing a €20bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the EU in 2009.
Mr Basescu had urged his supporters to boycott the vote as illegitimate, in a gamble aimed at keeping the turnout below the 50 per cent minimum insisted on by Romania’s constitutional court. But the tactic appeared to have increased the size of the majority against him among those who voted.
The turnout was always the biggest question in the referendum in the midst of Romania’s holiday season and a Balkans heatwave that pushed the temperature on polling day to 39 degrees centigrade across much of Romania. The government managed to extend the polling hours from the usual 12 to 16.
Romania’s political crisis has already raised questions about commitments to democracy and fiscal discipline in a growing area of central and south-east Europe. It follows an upset in neighbouring Serbia, where pro-western president Boris Tadic and his governing coalition have been replaced after May elections by a president and prime minister with nationalist pasts.
The EU and the US have demanded that Mr Ponta’s ruling coalition respects the constitution and rule of law; they complain of irregularities in the run-up to last month’s parliamentary suspension of Mr Basescu. Their statements echoed earlier criticisms of the way prime minister Viktor Orbán’s controversial government has entrenched its power in Hungary since 2010.
In towns outside Bucharest, it was difficult to find anyone claiming to have voted against Mr Basescu’s removal. In Fundulea, 40km from the capital, posters carrying the slogan “Fire him!” hung by the roadside.
“They reduced allowances for children,” said Sandricha, 20, an unemployed mother of two who said she had voted “categorically” to remove the president. “Maybe we will have a better life if [Basescu] leaves. We want somebody who will create jobs,” added her friend, Gabriela.
Paraschiava, a 77-year-old pensioner who said she scraped by on a pension of 350 lei (€75) a month, also said she had voted to sack the president. “He cut pensions. He cut my children’s wages. We can’t live with this kind of person,” she said.
Mr Basescu has won some international plaudits for his commitment to budgetary discipline, but has been criticised by Romanians for an allegedly cronyish leadership style and lavish lifestyle.
Romanian turnout to seal president’s fate - FT.com
