Romanian presidential impeachment referendum, 2012

Romanian presidential impeachment referendum

Romanian: Sunteți de acord cu demiterea Președintelui României, domnul Traian Băsescu?
English: Do you agree with the dismissal of the President of Romania, Mr. Traian Băsescu?

Date

29 July 2012

Results
	Votes	%
Yes	7,403,836	7001887000000000000♠88.70%
No	943,375	7001113000000000000♠11.30%
Valid votes	8,347,211	7001986800000000000♠98.68%
Invalid or blank votes	111,842	7000132000000000000♠1.32%
Total votes	8,459,053	100.00%
Registered voters/turnout	18,292,464	7001462400000000000♠46.24%

Results by county

Yes 60–62.5% Yes 57.5–60% Yes 55–57.5% Yes 52.5–55% Yes 50–52.5% No 50–52.5% No 52.5–55% No 55–57.5% No 57.5–60% No 60–62.5% No 62.5–65% No 65–67.5% No 67.5–70% No 70–72.5% No 72.5–75% No >75%

Source: Biroul Electoral Central

A referendum on impeaching President Traian Băsescu was held in Romania on 29 July 2012. The referendum was required after Parliament voted in favour of impeaching Băsescu on 6 July, and had to take place within a month. It was the second referendum on impeaching Băsescu, the first having been held in May 2007, in which 74% of voters chose to keep him in office. Băsescu was later narrowly re-elected in 2009.

The parliament of Romania impeached the former president and called on the nation to dismiss Băsescu on a variety of charges, but Băsescu dismissed the poll as a "putsch" and asked the public to boycott it. Polls showed a majority of Romanians favoring the impeachment of the President, but the turnout was estimated to be around 46%, thus rendering the referendum invalid. The Constitutional court has the final verdict in the case of the validity of the referendum. Final results from the Central Electoral Bureau were published on 1 August 2012. On 2 August 2012, the Court announced that a verdict for the validity of the referendum will be pronounced after 12 September 2012. Until that date, all the authorities have to clear up the electoral lists, in order to correctly calculate the voter turnout. Finally, the verdict will be presented in a joint session of Parliament. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court rescheduled the verdict for 31 August 2012. A second rescheduling placed the verdict on 21 August 2012. The Constitutional Court of Romania subsequently declared the referendum invalid, reinstating Băsescu as president of Romania, which succeeded on 28 August.

Băsescu's political rival, Prime Minister Victor Ponta, accused him of overstepping his powers through illegal phone-tapping, use of national intelligence services against political enemies, and pressuring prosecutors in criminal cases. The president's popularity had fallen due to his support for strong austerity measures and perceptions that his appointments were guided by cronyism. Băsescu responded by calling the referendum a putsch attempt by his opponent, who had previously been criticized for dismissing the speakers in both chambers of the Romanian Parliament and the country's ombudsman. He asked the public to boycott the poll.

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