BUCHAREST: Romania's opposition Liberal Democrats called on voters to boycott a referendum due Sunday on whether to impeach the country's president, claiming the ruling coalition plans to rig the vote.
In case turnout is lower than 50 percent, the referendum will be declared invalid and center-right president Traian Basescu, suspended by Parliament earlier this month, will be reinstated.
According to the latest poll figures, 68 percent of people are expected to vote in favour of impeaching Basescu, once one of Romania's most popular politicians whose ratings plummeted amid austerity cuts in 2010.
"We cannot warrant the long series of irregularities and abuses (perpetrated by the ruling center-left USL) and therefore call on Romanians not to take part in this masquerade," Liberal-Democrat leader Vasile Blaga told reporters yesterday.
"But we will have a delegate in each polling stations in order to limit potential vote rigging," he added.
The opposition argues the government's decision to extend the opening hours of polling stations and to open extra stations in restaurants and hotels along Romania's Black Sea coast aims at encouraging multiple voting.
The PDL's call to abstain from voting was criticized by Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who called Basescu a "coward".
"So much for the legend saying that Basescu is a brave man," Ponta said.
Ponta and Basescu have been locked in a bitter squabble since Ponta's coalition took office in May after the center-right government fell following a no-confidence vote.
"I will write to the European Union and the European Parliament in order to inform them that Basescu has misled them," he added.
Romania opposition urges boycott of impeachment vote
