President Traian Basescu urges Romanians to go to polls

Bucharest, Nov 28 /Agerpres/ - President Traian Basescu urged the Romanian citizens to cast their vote at the parliamentary polls on November 30 so that the future Parliament will represent their will and ease the effects of the economic crisis. 

In a Thursday statement at Cotroceni Palace, the head of state voiced concern over a possible low voter turnout, forecast by sociologic surveys.

'My message to Romanians is to go to the polls. The world economic crisis has reached Romania and its effects will further be felt over the next period. That is why we need a Parliament that should represent all Romanians, able to counter the effects of the crisis,' Basescu said.

In his opinion, another reason for Romanians to go to the polls is related to the way elections will unfold. November 30 elections will unfold according to a new law, introducing the uninominal voting system. It is for the first time when the political class answered to Romanians' wish to vote people and not party lists. That is why, the responsibility of electing each Parliament member is, this time, shared between the parties that have nominated the candidates and the citizens who need to make a choice among the party nominees,' Basescu said.

That means, according to the President, that MPs will be more connected with the electoral college in which they run and more responsible for those who sent them in Parliament.

Moreover, Basescu pointed out an important symbolic coincidence: 'By coincidence, the elections are very close, in term of date, to the anniversary of 19 years since the December 1989 Revolution. This is a maturity age of the Romanian democracy. People died in Timisoara, Sibiu, Bucharest and many other Romanian cities, for us to have the chance to reach this point, to vote freely. We must respect their sacrifice, which, among other things, was aimed at giving us the liberty to choose and be chosen,' Basescu pointed out.

The Head of State urged all those who plan to leave their localities for the December 1st holiday, to make time to cast their votes.