MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) — Thousands of Romanians are reported to have taken part in protests Saturday over the ill organization of the first round of presidential elections.
"We came out in the streets to see to it that what happened last Sunday does not happen again on November 16 [the runoff]," one of the protesters in Bucharest told Agence France Press.
Protesters claim that thousands of Romanians living abroad were not able to cast their ballot on November 2 due to the insufficient number of open polling stations.
Romanians voted on November 2 to choose the successor of the incumbent Traian Basescu.
According to the poll results, Prime Minister Victor Ponta won the first round and received 40 percent of the votes, Klaus Iohannis, the mayor of Sibiu and the president of the National Liberal Party, gained 30 percent. However, the substantial majority of voters abroad supported Klaus Iohannis (46 percent), whereas Ponta received only 18 percent of votes abroad.
Therefore, Ponta and Iohannis will compete in the runoff on November 16.
In his election campaign Ponta has pledged to cut taxes, increase pensions, maintain friendly relations with both the European Union and China and even hold a referendum on the restoration of monarchy.
