On Eve of Elections, Romanian MEP Warns that President Basescu Will Again Ignore Constitution and Rule of Law

On Eve of Elections, Romanian MEP Warns that President Basescu Will Again Ignore Constitution and Rule of Law PR Newswire BRUSSELS, December 4, 2012 BRUSSELS, December 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite opinion polls showing that the incumbent Social Liberal Union (USL) would win by a large 57% majority in thRomania's parliamentary elections on December 9 , the ruling coalition partner National Liberal Party (PNL) expressed fears that President Traian Basescu would not nominate the winning candidate. "There are legitimate fears that President Basescu will once again ignore the constitution, the free will of the voters and the rule of law in Romania, refusing to designate the candidate of the winning parliamentary majority as Prime Minister," said Norica Nicolai, the leader of the Romanian delegation in the ALDE Group in the European Parliament and Vice- President of the National Liberal Party. She pointed out that Article 103 of the Romanian Constitution clearly states that the President should designate the Prime Minister as a result of his consultation with the party, which has obtained absolute majority in Parliament. Continuous clashes between two-term President Basescu from the Democrat-Liberal Party (PDL) and Prime Minister Victor Ponta from the Social Democratic Party (PSD) have marked the Romanian political scene since Ponta was appointed in April 2012.