Basescu wins reelection in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Romanian President Traian Basescu has narrowly won reelection with 50.33 percent of the vote, election officials said Monday.

The final results released by Romania's Central Electoral Office Monday afternoon indicated that Basescu obtained 50.33 percent of the popular vote while Mircea Geoana garnered 49.66 percent of the popular vote, Hotnews.ro reported.

Analysts said the results were a surprise, since most opinion polls had put the left-wing former foreign minister Geoana ahead, and exit polls also indicated Basescu would go down to defeat, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The newspaper said Geoana's Social Democrat backers accused Basescu of election fraud, and claiming they had evidence that would cast doubt on his razor-thin margin of victory.

"Romanians voted for Mircea Geoana, but Basescu's state apparatus is trying to make him the presidential winner through fraud," Social Democratic official Liviu Dragnea told reporters.

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that the elections "were generally in line with (Romania's) commitments" to hold fair elections, the newspaper said.