Sunday November 22, 2009

FACTBOX - Romania's main candidates in presidential election

REUTERS - Following are details about the three main candidates in Romania's presidential election which begins with a first stage on Sunday.

President Traian Basescu leads most polls, followed by Social Democrat leader Mircea Geoana, and in third place Liberal leader Crin Antonescu.

Romania's President Traian Basescu exits a voting booth at a polling station in Bucharest November 22, 2009. The election frontrunner, Basescu, with support of over 30 percent in polls, the incumbent hopes for a fresh shot at transforming Romania's murky political class. (REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel)

In one of Romania's most important ballots since the fall of communism in 1989, the winner will have the right to name the next two prime ministers and influence long-delayed reforms to overhaul a sprawling public sector and tackle endemic graft.

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent in the first round, the top two will face each other in a Dec. 6 runoff.

TRAIAN BASESCU

The election frontrunner with support of over 30 percent in polls, the incumbent hopes for a fresh shot at transforming Romania's murky political class.

He has added a referendum to the ballot aimed at making parliament smaller, which he says can help clean up policy-making.

His confrontational style does not go down well with many voters and has added to animosity across the political spectrum. This could be a major obstacle in his efforts to combat pervasive corruption.

A former sea captain and Bucharest mayor, Basescu, 58, shot to power in 2004 when he unseated veteran president Ion Iliescu, a communist-turned-Socialist.

Backed by the centrist Democrat-Liberal Party (PD-L) of outgoing Prime Minister Emil Boc, Basescu also vowed to send more funds to the countryside, better social protection schemes and tax cuts in 2011.

Basescu is no stranger to scandal. Opponents have criticised him for racial slurs and insults against journalists, as well as nepotism after his daughter rose quickly through the political class to become an EU parliamentarian.

Despite the problems, Basescu is still Romania's most popular politician, with many voters charmed by his easy public demeanour and worried about the lack of concrete graft-fighting plans from his opponents.

MIRCEA GEOANA

The former ambassador to Washington was brought to the helm of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) in the hope he would modernise its image, which has been tarnished by graft scandals and foot-dragging on reforms.

Opinion polls show him as a close second behind Basescu, voters drawn more by promises of deeper social protection at a time of economic recession than any type of reform agenda.

Commentators say he may draw away Basescu supporters disappointed by political wrangling and the president's failure to ensure government stability. Two coalitions have collapsed during his time in office.

Geoana, 51, has added to the turmoil, taking the PSD out of a government with Basescu-linked centrists last month.

Geoana says he supports IMF-mandated reforms but he is likely to oppose painful measures, particularly a Fund recommendation to cut up to 150,000 public jobs.

He has promised a large social housing programme and a scheme in which people who are having trouble paying back their bank loans will receive state-backed relief for a year.

CRIN ANTONESCU

Antonescu, 50, is supported by the Liberal Party (PNL). A former history teacher from the Danube delta town of Tulcea, polls show him third in the race with support ranging from 13-20 percent.

He is the only candidate to announce his pick for a new prime minister -- Klaus Johannis, a respected provincial mayor from the medieval town of Sibiu.

He pledges to freeze utility prices and ease taxation, including a cut in the flat tax from 16 to 10 percent.

In a Reuters interview in August, Antonescu said Romania should renegotiate its 20 billion euro aid package with the International Monetary Fund to raise the planned budget deficit and funnel more cash into the shrinking economy.

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