Presidential elections were held in Romania in 2009. They were the sixth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. The first round took place on 22 November, with a run-off round between the top two candidates Traian Băsescu (supported by the Democratic Liberal Party or PDL for short) and Mircea Geoană (supported by the Social Democratic Party or PSD for short) on 6 December 2009. Although most exit polls suggested a victory for Geoană in the runoff, the authorities declared Băsescu the narrow winner with 50.33% of the votes. To date, it is the closest presidential election in the political history of Romania.
The opposition contested the results, citing a "high number of void ballots, modified voting protocols, and massive electoral tourism", vowing to challenge the result in the constitutional court. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) declared that the election "was held generally in line with OSCE commitments", but also urged the authorities to investigate claims of fraud. On 8 December, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) submitted a request to annul and repeat the run-off to the Constitutional Court, claiming it had been rigged. On 14 December, the Constitutional Court rejected the request after recounting all the annulled votes.
A referendum was held alongside the first round of voting on introducing a unicameral parliament of up to 300 deputies (replacing the existing bicameral parliament) and reducing the number of MPs to 300 but retaining the bicameral structure.
Candidates
There were twelve candidates of which three ran as independents. The candidates of the major parties were: the then incumbent Traian Băsescu (independent, but supported by Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and the official fraction of Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD), led by Marian Miluț), Mircea Geoană (Social Democratic Party or PSD for short), Crin Antonescu (National Liberal Party (PNL) and the contender faction of PNȚCD, led by Radu Sîrbu), Hunor Kelemen (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania or UDMR/RMDSZ for short) and Corneliu Vadim Tudor (Greater Romania Party or PRM for short). Mayor of Bucharest Sorin Oprescu (formerly PSD member) announced his candidacy as an independent candidate on 5 October 2009; Băsescu had also been mayor of Bucharest before becoming president during the early 2000s.
Prince Radu of Romania, husband of Margareta of Romania first announced his candidacy to the office of President on 9 April 2009, but later withdrew.
Campaign
First round
The main contenders, incumbent Băsescu and the President of the Parliament Mircea Geoană, offered different ways to tackle the economic crisis, Romania being in the grip of severe recession with the economy expected to contract eight percent in 2009. While Geoană offered to increase investment to beat the recession and promised "vigorous measures" such as building affordable flats for young people and giving cheap credits to enterprises in order to help create jobs, Băsescu pledged to cut public spending. Băsescu also promised more equity to people living in the countryside. Christian Mititelu, a political commentator quoted by the BBC, argued that due to extremely vigorous political strife there was no real campaign debate about how the economy should recover or on the structure of the next year's budget, and that the public were not sufficiently aware of these economic issues, while the contenders did not attempt to communicate and involve the public in such decisions.