Romania brings forward impeachment hearing

Romania’s constitutional court is to decide if a referendum to impeach the president is valid on August 31st – two weeks earlier than originally stated.

The hearing is to decide whether or not the referendum turnout on Sunday July 29th reached the 50 percent threshold to make it valid. The row has drawn criticism from the EU and from President Traian Basescu.

“The actions taken, starting with the challenging of the Cabinet’s own referendum, drastically accelerate the loss of Romania’s credibility. What happened during the referendum must be the absolute last occurrence of this type,” Basescu said.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s Social Liberal Union party has suspended the centre-right president and want him removed permanently.

The turnout for Sunday’s vote was just over 46 percent, of whom the vast majority voted to impeach Basescu. But now there are arguments over the size of the eligible number of voters that could affect the percentage turnout.

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