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Romanians Vote July 29 on Fate of their President


Romanian-flags-waving-at-the-unknown-soldier-mausoleum.jpgRomanians, already suffering severe austerity measures, go to the polls July 29 to decide if their President, Traian Basescu, skimmed money from the country's institutions to line his own pockets.

It's a typical Las Vegas casino skimming scam highly publicized in the days of Mafia gangsters Charles Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky who dominated criminal mob activity in the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s. Only in Romania, an impeachment vote against Basescu means the end of a lengthy political career. An impeachment by the Mafia would have meant the end of the individual, period.

The July 29 referendum came after the ruling coalition won the upper hand in a parliamentary vote two weeks ago. The legislature is dominated by Prime Minister Victor Ponta's Social Liberal Union, or USL

The legislature voted 256 to 114 to suspend Basescu. The politicians argued the president overstepped his duties when he announced budget cuts in 2010 and making other economic decisions.

The two sides trace their origins to the National Salvation Front that ruled the country after the collapse of communism in 1989. The parties have been fighting over budget measures and control of the judiciary.

Ponta wants  to remove Basescu two months after Basescu became the third premier this year in the ninth largest country of the European Union by area (92,000 square miles; 238,400 square kilometers ).

Romania has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Bucharest, is the capital of Romania and the 10th largest city in the European Union with an estimated population of two million.

Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south. Bucharest is 4,727 air miles from New York City.

Besides the July 29 referendum, the country also is preparing for parliamentary elections in November or December. The impeachment attempt is fueling political turmoil,

Basescu lost public support after announcing budget measures in 2010. People's trust in him was about 17 percent in a March 23-April 1 survey of 1,096 individuals by polling company CSOP.

Basescu's party cut state wages by 25 percent and raised taxes to narrow a budget deficit and meet pledges to the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

Former Prime Minister Emil Boc stepped down Feb. 6 to ease political and social pressure amid nationwide anti-austerity protests.

His successor, Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, lost an April 27 no- confidence vote in parliament as the Social Democrats and Liberals gathered 235 votes to topple his government.

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