MOSCOW, November 22 (RIA Novosti) - Presidential elections will take place in Romania on Sunday amid ongoing political and economic crisis.
Romanian incumbent President Traian Basescu, supported by the Democrat Liberal Party, is running for a second five-year term. Former Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, leader of the Social Democratic party, is the president's main rival.
Crin Antonescu, who heads the National Liberal Party, and Sorin Oprescu, Mayor of Bucharest are also among the 12 candidates to run in the elections.
According to public polls, Traian Basescu is likely to receive about 33% of the vote. Mircea Geoana is supported by around 30% of the voters.
If no candidate gets more than 50% in the first round of the vote, a runoff will take place on December 6.
The Romanian centre-left coalition government of Emil Boc collapsed in October as a result of party feuding. Boc has run a caretaker government with limited powers since then.
The new president is expected to appoint a prime minister to form a new cabinet.
The country has plunged into a deep recession, with its deficit expected to exceed 14% of GDP this year. The International Monetary Fund blocked a 1.5 billion euro bailout loan after Bucharest failed to resolve political crisis and to approve budget cuts for 2010.
The upcoming presidential poll is the first to take place in Romania since the country joined the European Union in 2007 and the sixth since the fall of a communistic government in 1989.
Along with the presidential polls, a referendum on a parliamentary reform will be held in the country.
The reform, initiated by the president, stipulates introduction of a unicameral parliament of up to 300 deputies instead of the current bicameral parliament, consisting of 137 senators and 334 deputies.
