Romania's Basescu to be Inaugurated President

Romanian President Traian Basescu will be inaugurated to a second term, after the Constitutional Court rejected charges his election victory was rigged and his challenger conceded defeat.

On Monday the Constitutional Court announced that its recount of some 140,000 annulled votes confirmed Basescu's victory.

The court ordered the re-count on Friday after Romania’s opposition, headed by presidential opponent Mircea Geoana, filed a complaint contesting the outcome of the presidential run-off, held 6 December. Those results gave Basescu a narrow lead with 51.3 per cent of the vote to Geoana’s 49.7 per cent.

Following the Court's announcement, Geoana conceded defeat. “The battle for the presidency of Romania ends here... In power or in opposition, we will continue to fight for an honest, fair government,” he said.

Basescu will be inaugurated Wednesday. His first task will be to nominate a prime minister who can form a new government after current caretaker Prime Minister Emil Boc's cabinet collapsed in October. Basescu is now seeking the support of the National Liberal Party to form a government.

This will be his third attempt to form a government since October, after the first two failed due to parliamentary opposition.

Basescu’s Liberal Democratic Party sent an invitation last week to the National Liberal Party to discuss the formation of a government. The Liberals, who allied themselves to Geoana during the election run-off have 79 seats and could give Basescu a majority, but have not yet accepted the offer.

Failure to form a government could lead to early parliamentary elections.