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BUCHAREST -- Romanian voters on Sunday will try to end a two-month political vacuum that has blocked economic changes and postponed an international aid program.
Center-right President Traian Basescu, a blunt-talking former ship captain, lost his lead in the polls this week after a spate of political gaffes and a dispute over a video. His challenger, Social Democratic Party candidate Mircea Geoana, is a former foreign minister and ambassador to Washington.
"A lot of people out there feel that Romania is lurching on the edge of a precipice," said Nigel Rendell, an economist at RBC Capital Markets. The Romanian economy could falter "if we don't get a decent election result and a government formed pretty quickly."
The vote -- which will give the new president powers to nominate a new prime minister, influence cabinet policy and potentially dissolve parliament -- will be pivotal to steering Romania's economy from its worst recession since the collapse of communism.
The new government's most pressing task will be negotiating budget conditions with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, which together loaned Romania €20 billion ($30.2 billion) earlier this year to pre-empt a balance-of-payments crisis.
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Following a bitter campaign, many voters here trust neither candidate to take the tough steps necessary to reinvigorate the economy.
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