Nov 25 (Reuters) - Romania holds a parliamentary election on
Nov. 30. Following are facts about the three main parties.
DEMOCRAT-LIBERAL PARTY (PD-L)
In opposition since 2007, the centrist PD-L has been the
frontrunner in the election for months, drawing much of its
support from close links with popular President Traian Basescu.
However, its lead over opposition rivals, the Social
Democrat Party (PSD), has eroded in the past week.
Foreign observers say a PD-L government could be Romania's
best chance to see more progress in fighting corruption.
The PD-L is most popular among young urban Romanians but
with opinion poll ratings above 30 percent it has a broad
electorate.
It backs flat tax and wants to join the euro in 2014, but,
like its rivals, has also promised to raise budget spending on
salaries and pensions.
It promises to speed up privatisation and complete the
restitution of property confiscated by the former communist
regime within two years. It aims to cut back state
administration and decentralise schools and hospitals.
The PD-L's candidate for premier is Theodor Stolojan, 65, a
former World Bank official who briefly ran a reformist
government in the early 1990s.
SOCIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY (PSD)
Heirs to the communist party whose single-party rule was
toppled in the 1989 revolution, the PSD governed Romania in
1990-1996 and 2000-2004. It is widely blamed by analysts for
allowing corruption to fester and for botched reforms that
hampered the transition to a modern market economy.
Two years ago, the party came close to disintegrating after
sleaze scandals engulfed its top officials. Few were convicted
and trials were blocked by parliament.
The PSD promoted welfare spending at a time when many
Romanians felt side-stepped by reforms. It has risen in opinion
polls and is now locked in a close race with the PD-L.
The PSD wants to keep the flat-tax rate of 16 percent but
says it will consider lowering income taxes for the poorest.
Its candidate for prime minister, Mircea Geoana, 50, is a
former Romanian ambassador to Washington. He came to the top of
the party in 2005 on a reformist ticket, but has made several
blunders in recent months, including promises to pay 20,000
euros to each Romanian who returns from working abroad.
LIBERAL PARTY (PNL)
The 140-year-old party, banned during communism, was revived
in 1990 with a centre-right platform. It has governed Romania
since late 2004 in a coalition government. It was also part of a
centrist alliance cabinet in 1996-2000.
Trailing its two main rivals in opinion polls, PNL has won
praise for dogged efforts to introduce economic and justice
reforms, which earned Romania European Union entry last year.
But it has softened its pro-business stance in favour of
social protection policies over the last year after its
coalition with the PD-L broke up and its survival in parliament
depended on the leftists.
Rating agencies have criticised the PNL for an inadequate
response to the global financial crisis, with Standard & Poor's
and Fitch downgrading Romania to below-investment grade.
The PNL campaigns on a pro-business platform and has a
fiscal stimulus plan aimed at reviving the economy next year.
It wants Calin Tariceanu, a 56-year-old businessman often
spotted by Bucharest's residents whizzing around on his Harley
Davidson, to remain prime minister.
However, he is embroiled in a feud with President Traian
Basescu which could harm his chances of rebuilding a centrist
alliance after the election.
(For main story, click on [nLP88873])
(Compiled by Marius Zaharia and Justyna Pawlak)
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