Voting stations opened across Romania Sunday in a presidential run-off election in which ex-communist Ion Iliescu is heavily favored to win another term against hardline nationalist candidate Corneliu Vadim Tudor.
Iliescu, 70, who was Romania's first elected president from 1990-1996 following the 1989 ouster of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, may win with up to 70 percent of the vote, according to three opinion polls published Thursday.
But Tudor, who stunned Romania and the world when he finished just eight points behind Iliescu in the first round of voting on November 26 after running a campaign aimed against the country's minorities and rampant corruption, has charged Iliescu's Social Democratic Party of Romania (PDSR) will steal the election and hinted of possible unrest.
"I have received alarming information which indicates that on Sunday a number of my votes will be stolen, which could provoke an unpredictable popular reaction," Tudor declared in an electoral message on Romanian radio before a ban on campaigning took effect late Friday.
Exit polls are due to be released shortly after balloting stops at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT).
Tudor's statements such as that Romania "can only be run with machine guns," and threats of carrying out "mass executions in stadiums of all the thieves who have robbed the country," have helped the country's political, social, intellectual and religious forces close ranks as never before since the downfall of Ceausescu to back Iliescu.
Against fears Tudor's election and his Romania Mare (PRM-Greater Romania) coming to power would mean increased isolation, Iliescu has moved to portray himself as a "European social democrat" who will continue to lead the country towards membership in the European Union.
Although there was little economic improvement during his first two terms in office, Iliescu has styled himself as the candidate who can best deliver growth to a country where the average monthly salary is under 100 dollars (Euros) – BUCHAREST (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
