Romanian President to be Reinstated; Court Rules Impeachment Invalid

88 percent voted to remove him in a referendum, but less than half of voters bothered to show up

Traian Basescu is set to return as Romania's president after the Constitutional Court ruled that last month's impeachment referendum was invalid.

In the poll, 88 percent of those who cast
ballots voted to censure Basescu – but only 46 percent of registered voters took part, fewer than the required threshold of 50 percent of the electorate.

Parliament suspended Basescu in a decision backed by the leftist Social Liberal Union (USL) of Prime Minister Victor Ponta.