Rumänien 2009 – Präsidentschaftswahlen im Zeichen einer Mehrfachkrise
Romania 2009 – Presidential Elections Reflect a Multiple Crisis

Summary/Abstract: On 22 November 2009 presidential elections took place in Romania. In the second ballot held on 6 December 2009 the acting president Traian Basescu defeated his social democratic challenger Mircea Geoana by a score of 50,44 % to 49,66 %. Parallel to the presidential elections a consultative referendum was held asking voters to voice their opinion on the transformation of Romania’s bicameral into a unicameral Parliament as well as on the reduction of the number of parliamentarians from 471 to 300. The electoral campaign took place in a highly inflamed climate. Urgent political and economic issues were pushed to the background giving way to populist negative campaigning. For the first time in post-1989 Romanian history charges of electoral cheating in the second ballot weighed so heavily that the Constitutional Court had to examine them. In the end, however, the Court rejected the charges confirming the validity of Basescu’s victory.

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