----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 6:58 PM Subject: [romania-economics] news Ruling party slightly ahead in Romanian parliamentary elections; opposition Ruling party slightly ahead in Romanian parliamentary elections; opposition claims fraud By ALISON MUTLER .c The Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania's opposition insisted Monday that weekend parliamentary and presidential elections had been marred by fraud, while preliminary results showed the governing Social Democratic Party holding on to a narrow lead that would leave it unable to form a government. Results released by the Central Electoral Bureau based on half of the total count gave the governing party more than 35 percent in Sunday's election, lead than three percentage points ahead of the centrist Justice and Truth Alliance's 32.5 percent. The figures indicated neither party would be able to form a majority in parliament and would have to seek partnership for a coalition government with either the nationalist Greater Romania Party, which scored about 13 percent, or its rival ethnic Hungarian Party, which netted about 8 percent. The presidential race was also close, with Prime Minister Adrian Nastase winning 38.90 percent, while main challenger Traian Basescu scored 34.82 percent, leading to a runoff vote on Dec. 12. Twelve candidates ran for president. The early results revealed a much closer race than indicated by two exit polls, which had predicted the ruling party winning about 40 percent and the alliance 35 percent. The opposition alleged fraud, with Basescu saying he had video evidence showing that the governing party bused its supporters around the country to vote repeatedly. He says the alleged fraud affected the results by 5 to 7 percent. ``Romania has the right to have fair elections,'' said Basescu, adding that his party will ask for lists of voters to identify those who cast their ballots multiple times. About 3,300 Romanians from the independent Pro Democracy Association and 50 foreign observers monitored the election. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the vote ``seemed to be professionally and efficiently organized,'' but cautioned about procedures which made it possible for people to vote multiple times. ``In the context of a closely contested election, this has the potential to affect public confidence,'' said Stephen Nash, who headed an OSCE mission of 18 observers monitoring the election. ``Any such alleged problems should be fully dealt with through the appropriate administrative and judicial processes,'' the OSCE added. Pro Democracy chairman Cristian Parvulescu said his observers found many irregularities in the voting process, but the group could not determine whether there had been large-scale fraud. Several newspapers reported that journalists working undercover were able to vote multiple times. ``The law, offering Romanians the possibility to vote in any polling station around the country, created the possibility of election fraud,'' said Parvulescu, who heads Pro Democracy. The ruling party dismissed suggestions that it was responsible for any irregularities. Its campaign chief, Dan Nica, accused the opposition of sending people to vote multiple times, but said the elections were generally fair. ``The elections showed that Romania has a mature democracy,'' said Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, who has been nominated by the Social Democrats as their choice to lead the new cabinet. His party was in jubilant mood after exit polls were released, and immediately began talks with other parties to form a coalition government. Basescu, a former sailor, also said his group would try to form a government. Final election results were expected Tuesday. Turnout was about 60 percent of the 18 million eligible voters, officials said. Romania's new president will lead the Balkan country as it implements economic and judicial reforms aimed at gaining EU membership by 2007. He will take over from Ion Iliescu, who is stepping down after leading Romania for 11 of the 15 years since the communist dictatorship was overthrown. Both Nastase and Basescu promise to lead Romania out of poverty. They also would likely maintain their support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq, where Romania has sent about 700 troops. 11/29/04 10:17 EST ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. 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