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Romanian President Calls For Yes Vote In Referendum To Downsize Parliament

Romanian Present Traian Basescu Wednesday called on Romanians to vote yes at the referendum to downsize the Parliament, held along with presidential elections on November 22, saying the political class refuses to reform itself.
Romanian President Calls For Yes Vote In Referendum To Downsize Parliament
28 oct. 2009, 15:52, English

„I have one single huge request for Romanians regarding elections – that they go vote at the referendum. The political class will refuse to reform itself,” Basescu said on TV station Kanal D.

The head of state reminded it was a referendum that made it possible for Romanians to choose their lawmakers uninominally instead of voting for party lists.

„The most important thing Romanians must do is to reform the political class by voting yes to make the Parliament single-chamber and vote yes to cut the number of lawmakers from 471 to 300. Otherwise, we’ll continue to have a political class that will make deicisions depending on its own interests which don’t necessarily coincide with the interests of Romanians,” the head of state added.

Basescu, who is running for reelection, has been widely criticized for calling a referendum to downsize the Parliament on election day and his gesture was interpreted by political rivals as a scheme to get people to go to the polls and vote for him.