Romania's Constitutional Court sets new date for referendum decision

Romania's Constitutional Court (CC) upheld on Tuesday (August 14 ) the request made by the suspended President Traian Basescu to change the date of the decision on the presidential impeachment referendum. The new date is August 21, ten days before the previous date - August 31. The change was motivated by political instability and the impact on the economy.

"The Constitutional Court discussed the request to change the terms of the trial set for the compliance review procedure for the national referendum on July 29, 2012 for the removal of the Romanian President and confirm its results, at the request of Romania's suspended President, Mr. Traian Basescu ", according to the Court. The Court will have to check the electoral roll, after the Interior Ministry sent data about the 18.2 million registered voters. The Court later asked for the exact electoral rolls from the Government and a political row erupted over the proposed mini-census and the accuracy of the information provided to the Court. The recent referendum sparked debate, as the size of the electorate was determined by information from before the 2011 census. This, according to pundits, influenced the validity of the vote, which needed 50 percent plus one of registered voters to pass. Otherwise, according to the law in place, with the referendum invalid, the suspended president returns to power. Only 46.24 percent of Romanians attended the referendum, on July 29, and 87.5 percent of them voted for the impeachment of the president, according to final official data. Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com (photo source: Constitutional Court)