News

Romanians will vote in a presidential election Sunday that could resolve weeks of political crisis and unfreeze an international loan the country needs to emerge from a deep recession.

President Traian Basescu, who represents Romania''s political center, is running for a second five-year term. His main rival is former Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana, who heads the leftist Social Democrats and is head of the Senate.

A runoff is expected on Dec. 6 because none of the dozen candidates is expected to get more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round.

Romania slipped into political crisis when Parliament dismissed the two-party government of Emil Boc on Oct. 13 after a dispute between the coalition partners over control of the Interior Ministry, which oversees the presidential vote.