Romanian Social Democrat And Liberal Leaders Sign Party Cooperation Agreement

Crin Antonescu said Tuesday that the party has decided to back Mircea Geoana in the presidential election runoff, as long as an agreement based on liberal principles is negotiated and signed.

The Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Hungarians (UDMR) in Romania signed Tuesday a cooperation protocol which says the parties will act together to back a presidential candidate and will take part in setting up the new Government. Talks on the agreement were held Tuesday evening and were attended by Antonescu and UDMR president Marko Bela.

Antonescu said Wednesday after the signing that the agreement is different than previous ones beacuse it is a statement of principles and did not emerge as a result of negotiations for positions and power.

In turn, social democrat presidential candidate Geoana said signing this agreement is a major step toward political stability and not a political "swap" of positions or buying of votes.

Liberal vice-president Ludovic Orban said the agreement sets the flat tax will be kept and will even be reduced from the current 16% when economic conditions allow it. He also said other tax reductions could include VAT or social security contributions.

Orban added the lump sum tax the government introduced this year will be discarded because it led to the shutdown of "over 120,000 companies and left over 250,000 people jobless".

Romania's incumbent President Traian Basescu, who represents Romania's political center and is backed by democrat liberals, and leftist leader Geoana will face off in a second round of elections on December 6.

Results of Sunday's first round of elections show Basescu in the lead with 32.44% of the votes and Geoana with 31.15%. Antonescu got 20.02% of the votes, which he now wants to direct to Geoana in the runoff.

In response to liberals teaming up with social democrats, democrat vice-president Adriean Videanu said Wednesday Antonescu has missed his last chance to emerge as a leader of the country's right-winged politics by signing an agreement with leftists.

Whoever emerges as the country's next president will have to appoint a prime minister to carry through reforms conditioning the east European country's IMF-led EUR20 billion rescue loan.

Romania has been in a political gridlock since mid-October, when its democrat liberal government was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament, a first in the 20 years of democracy after the fall of the communist regime.

The Parliament has since rejected one proposed government headed by economist Lucian Croitoru and lawmakers have refused to vote on Basescu's second prime minister nomination, democrat liberal Liviu Negoita.

The majority formed around Geoana is seeking to nominate Sibiu mayor Klaus Johannis for prime minister, a proposition Basescu refused.

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