Traian Basescu Is the New Romanian President

Basescu is the winner of the second round of the presidential elections, obtaining 51.23% of the votes (with 5,125,794 of the votes respectively), while Adrian Nastase has 48.77% (with 4,881,520), according to CEB (the Central Electoral Bureau).

"Our parallel counting, as well as the official results from the Central Electoral Bureau, show that Traian Basescu will be Romania’s next President. This was the Romanians’ wish, and I respect it", said Adrian Nastase the candidate of the National Union SDP (the Social Democrat Party) + HPR (the Humanist Party in Romania) for the presidential election.

According to the CEB spokesperson, Victor Pasca-Camenita, the total number of the electors that voted and that were on the electoral lists from the voting sections is equal to 10,112,262 citizens, meaning 55.21% of the total number of the electors.

The total number of the valid votes is 10,008,314, meaning 98.97%, the total number of the invalid votes is 10,325, meaning 1.02%. The number of the voting bulletins received by the voting sections is 20,358,425, and the total number of the unused and annulled voting bulletins is 10,246,246.

These results will be considered once the Central Electoral Bureau will receive all the reports from the 42 districts that confirm the results of the elections. Together with them will be the files with all the objections and complaints.

In 24 hours time from the registrations of the last file, CEB will send all these documents to the Constitutional Court in order for the results to be validated. The CEB report containing the final result of the voting on the 12th of December is to be attached to those files.

According to the law, the parties and the candidates who took part in the elections can ask for their annulment in three days time from the closing of the voting session. The law also says that any such demand has to be reasoned and to have proofs attached to it.

CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE WINNER

The SDP president, Adrian Nastase, congratulated Traian Basescu, co-president of the J.T. Alliance, for his triumph in the presidential elections and wished him luck for his new mandate as President of Romania. At the SDP headquarters Adrian Nastase stated that he phoned his opponent to personally congratulate him. "Our parallel counting, as well as the official results from the Central Electoral Bureau, show that Traian Basescu will be Romania’s next President. This was the Romanians’ wish, and I respect it", said Adrian Nastase. He emphasized that the National Union SDP+HPR has most of the Parliamentary mandates and has already negotiated for a parliamentary majority, expressing his hope that Traian Basescu will take into account. "All of us, the National Union SDP+HPR and Traian Basescu, the winners of this elections have the duty of finding, together, solutions for the problems Romanian confronts with", stated Adrian Nastase, according to whom the two political forces have to gather the Romanians’ interests, the things that unite them, not the ones that break them apart. The SDP president said that now there is a balanced Parliament and that, most probably, we are to confront with a co-habitation period for the moment, but he made notice that "Romanian cannot afford any break-time periods, any research periods, because the external pressure is very high, taking into account the horizon of 2007".

Adrian Nastase stated that SDP will support the projects proposed by Traian Basescu in order to continue the road to the European integration and to Romanians’ wealth, expressing his hope that the president will do the same with the social-democrats’ initiatives, Parliamentary or Governmental.

He added that the result of the parliamentary and presidential elections show that, for now, there are two countries in Romania, a rural one and an urban one. "We are talking about an urban Romania, in full development, with a solid liberal part, though sometimes affected by the unemployment rates, that rather expects the state to give opportunities not support. This is the Romania that voted for Traian Basescu. There is also a rural Romania, with old and poor people, that still need help not only for development but also for surviving. Bothe of them will have to be represented in the following years", explained the SDP leader. "I am fully confident that through dialog and understanding we can prove the Romanians that we deserve their votes that we can fulfil our mandate", concluded Adrian Nastase.

PRESIDENT ION ILIESCU CONGRATULATED TRAIAN BASESCU

President Ion Iliescu sends his sincere congratulations to the winner of the presidential elections, Traian Basescu, and wishes him luck for his great responsibility mission of ensuring the political and social stability needed for the economic growth and for the finalisation of the European Union adherence, stated the Presidential Administration’s spokesperson, presidential counsellor Corina Cretu, at the Cotroceni Palace. In the same time, the Chief of the state addresses his congratulations to the social-democrat leader Adrian Nastase, for the responsible way in which he understood to send his message and promote his political project.

"President Ion Iliescu salutes the correct manner in which the electoral process took place during the second round of the presidential elections and appreciates the civic spirit of the Romanian citizens. The voting on Sunday, the 12th of December, is a confirmation of the solidity and of the functionality of the Romanian democracy, of the entrance in regularity, 15 years after the Romanian Revolution in December 1989", said Corina Cretu. President Ion Iliescu thanked the Prime-Minister for the good collaboration in the last four years and saluted the Government’s performances, which allowed Romania to adhere to NATO and to finalize the negotiations for the adherence to the European Union.

The Chief of the state emphasized that our country enters a new stage of the Romanian’s nation development, when all the political forces and all the citizens must prove they are responsible and that they have a civic spirit, must prove they are socially and nationally united in order to continue the things started in December 1989.

Since this was the last briefing of the Presidency’s spokesperson, Corina Cretu wanted to thank the journalists accredited for the Cotroceni Palace for the collaboration in the last four years.

PARTIAL RESULTS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The candidate of the J.T. Alliance NLP (the National Liberal Party) - DP (the Democrat Party), Traian Basescu, won the presidential elections, with 51.23% of the votes, compared to the 48.77% in favour of the candidate of the National Union SDP+HPR, Adrian Nastase, according to the partial results CEB centralized from 98.76% of the voting sections.

PARALLEL COUNTING

According to the parallel counting made by NLP-DP in 92.30% of the sections, the partial results show that Traian Basescu won the elections with 51.55%, Adrian Nastase gathering 48.45% of the votes.

Traian Basescu accumulated 4,885,223 of the votes, and Nastase 4,591,122. The total number of the valid expressed votes, according to the parallel counting of the Alliance is 9,476,345. The difference between the two is, this way, 3.10%, in favour of the J.T. Alliance candidate. The liberals and the democrats finished the parallel counting in Bucharest as well as in other 13 counties.

In the other counties the votes form more than 80% of the sections have been counted. According to Alliance’s data, Basescu won in Ardeal and in Bucharest, and Adrian Nastase in most of the counties from Moldova, Muntenia and Oltenia. In each of the counties Brasov, Sibiu, Timis and Bucharest has a lead of approximately 30% ahead of Nastase. In Constanta, Alba Iulia and Arad Basescu has a lead of more than 22% ahead of Nastase. In Bihor, Caras, Cluj, Prahova, Tulcea, the distance between Basescu is approximately 15%.

The highest advantage for Adrian Nastase has been recorded in the Harghita county, according to the datat from the Alliance, 54.06% respectively. A difference of more than 30% between Nastase and Basescu was recorded only in the Botosani district. In Giurgiu and Satu Mare, Nastase got 22% in font of Basescu, in Braila, Buzau, Calarasi, Dambovita, Ialomita, Iasi, Olt, Salaj, Teleorman, Vaslui and in Vrancea Nastase leads with percentages between 10 and 20. The data come from the processing, by NLP-DP, of 16,071 voting sections, of the total of 17,411 sections. This represents 92.30% of the total voting sections.

TRAIAN BASESCU PRESENTED HIS PRIORITIES

The NLP-DP Alliance presidential candidate, Traian Basescu thanked his opponent Adrian Nastase for calling to congratulate him and stated that the "priority of his priorities" is forming a parliamentary majority for the good development of the adherence to the E.U. process.

During an extraordinary press conference, Basescu showed the priorities he will have during his mandate for the internal and external politics. He started by saying that, first of all, he wants to form a parliamentary majority to ensure the good development of the adherence to the E.U. process. Basescu added he intends to attract HPR and DUHR (the Democrat Union of the Hungarians in Romania) close to the NLP-DP Alliance in order to form a majority in the Parliament.

For the external affairs, he said that the top objective is the EU integration on the 1st of January 2007 and stated that the Romanians must be well informed about the costs of the integration. "Another priority is coagulating the entire nation around the poverty matter", also stated. Among the new President’s priorities one can also find the taking out of the state’s institutions from the politics’ influence. "I am to be a President to keep all the state’s institutions out of the politics’ influence", emphasized Basescu.

Romania’s elected President also said that, as the chief of the Supreme Council for the Country’s Defence, will introduce in the country’s defence strategy the corruption problem as being a national security problem. "Another issue that I will follow is that promise from the campaign regarding the reestablishment of the Romanians’ dignity", Basescu also said. Regarding the civil society, the elected President guaranteed that this will be an encouraging and supporting factor for civil society’s representatives. "I also guarantee that, in Romania, the press will be free again", added Basescu.

He also said things about the partnership with the USA and with the United Kingdom, about the strengthening of Romania’s role in NATO and of the good relationships with the countries from the former Soviet block, Ukraine and Belarus respectively. In the same paragraph, the new Chief of the state emphasized the establishment of a partnership with the Moldavian Republic, saying that Romania has to treat the Moldavians as fellow Romanians.

ILIESCU-BASESCU MEETING AT COTROCENI

Ion Iliescu and Traian Basescu are to have one first meeting on Thursday, the 16th of December, announced the Presidential Administration’s spokesperson, presidential counsellor Corina Cretu, during the press conference at the Cotroceni Palace. "It will be a bilateral meeting as well as a meeting for the main collaborators, in order to ensure an adequate transfer of the prerogatives, of the power, of the documents, as well as a brief look in the international agenda that Romania’s President has to be dedicated to in the following days", said Corina Cretu. She mentioned that during the morning President Ion Iliescu called Traian Basescu to personally congratulate him for the success obtained in the second round of the elections.

Also then, Ion Iliescu invited Traian Basescu to accompany him during the trip to Bruxelles on the 17th of December, to the European Council’s reunion where the final decision regarding the finalization of the adherence negotiations with Romania is to be taken. "According to President Ion Iliescu, this will be a very good signal to show that democracy works in Romania and that all the things turn to normal ", stated Corina Cretu. Asked about the response President Ion Iliescu received from Traian Basescu, Corina Cretu answered the response was positive.

POLITICAL PARTIES’ REACTION

On Monday, following the announcement made about the result of the second round of the presidential elections, HPR (social-liberal) re-announced its political and doctrinarian independence. They reminded they are able to form significant parliamentary groups in both of the Legislature’s Chambers.

In the same time, in a press communiqué, HPR also assured its electors that the senators and deputies from HPR will carefully keep the promises made in the electoral campaign.

The HPR members consider that the recent parliamentary and presidential elections expressed the maturity and the civic spirit of the Romanian electorate. Their balanced result shows all the changes that occurred in the structure of the Romanian people and their understanding rate, but also the fact that the essential objectives of the country are practically assumed by all the convincing political formations, says the communiqué. "As a party with a centre-like orientation, constant promoter of the balance, combining in its doctrine the most important principles, social-democrat as well as liberal, HPR thanks all the Romanian citizens for the high number of votes and for the trust degree of these votes", reads the communiqué.

HPR says that Romania is at the beginning of a new step, maybe the most important of the contemporaneous Romanian society evolution. The targets of this step are, according to the HPR members, the reforms’ improvement, the elimination of corruption, the prosperity through correctitude, HPR ensuring that they treat these targets trustfully since they have always promoted them.

HPR also asked the entire political class to put the national interests high above any motivations and ambitions. "No matter what will be the configuration of the future structures that will lead the country and no matter what will be the exact responsibilities of the humanist representatives, they will work with honour and worth for the Romania of the days to come, for the European Romania, for the all the citizens of this wonderful and hardened country", also reads the HPR communiqué.

The Permanent Bureau of HPR will decide this week whether it will take part or not in the Government, stated , for Rompress, the HPR spokesperson, Bogdan Pitigoi. "Taking into account that the Romanian political stage is not dominated by a one party in a proportion of at least 51%, this Government will form following some negotiations and we are not willing to step aside from supporting the autochthonous capital, the0 powerful middle class and the small medium enterprises", said Pitigoi. He reiterated the fact that HPR and SDP have signed a political protocol that allows both the parties to take action from the political point of view. "Now, when we have our own political groups, we will take action in order to keep the promises we made to the electorate by continuing to support the middle class", concluded the HPR spokesperson.

The DUHR will re-evaluate the political situation if SDP is to remain without the support of HPR, stated the DUHR president, Marko Bela. He appreciated that the statement of the humanist leaders regarding the ideological and doctrinarian independence of HPR probably represents the intention of forming a separate parliamentary group. "The J.T. Alliance’s candidate won the presidential elections, but there were others to win the parliamentary ones. Now, everything is based on mathematics", said Marko Bela. According to the Hungarian Union’s leader, DUHR is needed for Romania to have a stable governmental majority. "DUHR cannot be avoided", stated Marko Bela. He said that the majority must be assured by a governmental majority and not by a minority Government.

In the same time, the Hungarian Union’s vice-president, Valentin Zoltan Puskas, stated that DUHR is willing to discuss with anyone now. "There were only principle-based discussions with SDP. We can have the same discussion with someone else as well. We’ll take part in any Government. I believe we can discus with Traian Basescu as well", said the DUHR vice-president.