Romania votes to elect leader amid economic woes

In recession-hit Romania, electorates have begun voting for their next president in a tight presidential election aimed at resolving the country's leadership crisis.

Romanians over 18 years of age are eligible to cast their ballots in the Sunday vote, with twelve candidates competing for presidency.

Polls suggest incumbent center-right President Traian Basescu and his Social Democrat rival Mircea Geoana are likely to attract between 30 and 33 percent of the vote each, paving the way for a run-off set for December 6.

The main concern for the European Union (EU) member state, that suffered a huge blow during the global financial crisis, is to work out a month-long political crisis hindering an international loan worth EUR 1.5 billion (USD 2 billion).

A caretaker government has been in charge for the last six weeks, following the government's collapse last month amid mounting disputes between the two-party coalition.

A third installment of a 20-billion-euro aid package by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the EU and the World Bank has been postponed until a new government is formed.

The new president's first and toughest task would be securing enough support for a new prime minister. If a premier is not elected, he would have the power to dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections.

The vote marks the country's first election of a head of state since Romania joined the European Union in January 2007.

Voters were also asked to vote in a referendum to decrease the number of parliamentary seats to 300 from 471.

However, despite the election's high stakes, observers were predicting low turnout, with many Romanians seen as disillusioned with politics.

Since the fall of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu 20 years ago, voter participation has continually declined, from 86 percent in 1990 to 58.93 percent in the last presidential election in 2004.

While Basescu insists on modernizing the state and "eliminating the privileges of certain categories", his rival Geoana has proposed a "vigorous anti-crisis plan."

There is much work to be done to repair the economy, with Romanian gross domestic product (GDP) expected to shrink by eight percent in 2009, and the country's unsettled political situation has done little in this respect.