Romanian Leftist Leader Geoana Says He Won Elections, Awaits Constitutional Court Ruling

Romanian social democrat leader Mircea Geoana said Tuesday that he is the real winner of the presidential elections and called on the Constitutional Court to rule on the fairness of the polls.

Geoana said democracy in Romania is in peril and accused reelected president Traian Basescu of planning to instate a regime similar to the one in Belarus.

The Romanian Social Democratic Party submitted Tuesday to the Constitutional Court their request to annul and repeat the presidential election runoff, saying the election was rigged.

The request was submitted by social democrat senator Dan Sova and party secretary general Liviu Dragnea, who said the evidence is sufficient for the Court to decide to cancel the elections.

Basescu obtained 50.33% of the votes in the second round of elections and Geoana got 49.66%, according to final results released Monday by the Central Electoral Bureau after counts in all polling stations. The majority of exit polls released Sunday evening showed Geoana in the lead, but the results were too close to call.

mediafax.ro