page_title: 2007 Romanian presidential impeachment referendum
section_title: Validity in Case of Low Voter Turnout
hierarchical_section_title: 2007 Romanian presidential impeachment referendum / Controversy / Validity in Case of Low Voter Turnout
caption_attribution_description: Devant l'ambassade roumaine à Paris le jour du référendum de 2007, peu de temps avant la fermeture des bureaux de vote. Fin de la queue.
context_page_description: The Romanian presidential impeachment referendum of 2007 was conducted in order to determine whether the president of Romania Traian Băsescu should be forced to step down.
  On 19 April 2007 the Romanian parliament suspended Băsescu. As the Constitutional Court of Romania acknowledged the Parliament's vote on the following day, Băsescu remained suspended from the position of president until the referendum would clarify the situation. It took place on 19 May 2007 and confirmed that the impeachment should not stand. 24.75% voted to impeach Băsescu, while 74.48% wanted to keep him in office.
  Although not impeached, Băsescu is the first president in the history of Romania who has been officially suspended.
context_section_description: On 24 April, the parliament voted to organize the referendum on 19 May and included an amendment of the opposition which stipulated that in case the constitutional court found the referendum invalid, parliament would decide on further procedures.
  The decision started a new debate on the referendum issue generated by the law not providing for the hypothesis that the referendum to dismiss the president would be considered formally not valid by the constitutional Law on account of low turnout. According to paragraph (2) of article 5 in the law no. 3/2000, a referendum is valid only if the majority of citizens registered in the electoral lists participates in the referendum, regardless of their votes or the validity of their votes once they have participated. This condition applies to all referendums and only if met, the referendum will be held as formally valid by the constitutional court. But neither the constitution nor the law on referendums give any solution to the invalidity issue as to what would happen afterwards with the legal effects of the suspension vote or the re-instatement of the president with full prerogatives.
  Supporters of the idea that the referendum will have to be repeated - with the president suspended in the meantime - base their claim on article 95 in the constitution which does not provide a limit in time as to the effects of a suspension vote by the parliament.
  Another difficulty that arose from this argument is that a suspension vote would actually become a dismissal vote in case of low voter turnout since several referendums would have to be held with the president suspended while article 95 says that only "a referendum" will be held and this will be done only "in 30 days" from the day of suspension. In addition, it was claimed that it cannot be reasonably inferred that low voter turnout equals a will to dismiss the president by the people and parliament does not have the power to make this decision either.
  Supporters of the president rebut the argument, stating that article 95 calls for a referendum to be held in 30 days to dismiss the president by popular vote and that article 8 in the law on referendums states that the referendum is mandatory. Since the referendum is the expression of national sovereignty that belongs to the Romanian people, only a positive result to dismiss the president will preclude Băsescu from regaining full prerogatives once the referendum is held at the date established. Save for a positive result to dismiss him, Băsescu will regain full prerogatives the next day after the vote, regardless of participation rates or the validity of the referendum. This argument does not address the issue of the time limit for the suspension or that a valid referendum will have to legitimize again the reinstatement as president once he was suspended because only a valid referendum is the expression of national sovereignty not an invalid one.
  Should the referendum be invalid on account of low voter turnout, a possible solution to this constitutional crisis would be a bolder decision of the constitutional court that would have to address the debate directly and issue a decision on reinstatement as well. A second possible solution is for the government to repeal the text of article 5 (2) on participation requirements through an emergency ordinance. Finally, resignation of the president would end his mandate and the issue by triggering presidential elections.
caption: People voting in Paris before the closure of voting booths.
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