President Traian Băsescu has been suspended today, after the vote in the Parliament plenum.
The petition for suspending president Traian Basescu passed on Friday the Parliament vote. Officialy, there were recorded 256 votes in favor of Traian Basescu’s suspension, while against the petition there were 114 votes, and 2 votes were cancelled.
The Social Liberal Union (USL) will propose a referendum for Traian Basescu’s dismissal on July 29th.
Following President’s suspension, according to the Romanian Constitution, art.95, 3rd line, a referendum must be organized within at most 30 days, referendum at which the population is asked whether they agree or not with President’s removal.
If 50 percent plus one of the voters agree, the President will be dismissed and presidential elections will be held during the following 3 months.
Crin Antonescu, Head of the Senate Chamber, will be acting president until the referendum. If Traian Băsescu is dismissed, Crin Antonescu will serve as Interim Head of State until a new president will be elected. If the President of the Senate cannot occupy this position, then the President of the Lower Chamber (Deputies), Valeriu Zgonea, becomes Interim President.
This is the second time that President Traian Băsescu is suspended, after the one of April 19, 2007, when Parliament suspended the Head of State, by 322 votes to 108, of the 430 parliament members present.
The Parliament decision back then led, for the first time in the history post-December 1989, to the organization of a referendum through which the voting citizens were called to the ballot boxes to say whether they still wanted Traian Basescu as President or not.