Economic crisis tops issues in Romanian elections

Prime minister appeals to voters, as poll turnout seems lowest since 1989

A child peers out of a voting booth at a polling station in Bucharest yesterday. Romanians voted in parliamentary elections that will decide its response to the global financial crisis and the fate of judicial reforms.

BUCHAREST (AP) – Anxiety concerning the global economic crisis loomed over Romanian parliamentary elections yesterday, with voters fearful of layoffs after years of prosperity.

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu’s center-right Liberal Party was in a battle with the leftist Social Democrats – a bloc of former communists whose leader pledged to spread the wealth. Tariceanu recently declared the nation of 22 million people was virtually immune to the global economic meltdown. But a string of grim economic news stories punctured that optimism, giving the Social Democrats their best chance in years. Tariceanu’s Liberal Party has lagged in recent polls, with about 20 percent support.

Tariceanu, urging Romanians to vote, said he hoped for “a future based on prosperity, economic growth and jobs.” Polls opened at 7 a.m. (local time) and were to close at 9 p.m. For the first time, Romanians were choosing from among individual candidates instead of party lists as they filled seats in the 452-member parliament.

Despite the economic worries, turnout by mid-afternoon was less than 20 percent – one of the lowest since a bloody revolt toppled communism in 1989. It prompted the prime minister to make an unusual televised appeal to voters to cast ballots and ensure “a good future for Romania.”