President Basescu doesn't want to resign

Romanian President Traian Basescu doesn't intend to resign, as he had previously announced he would do. Following his suspension by the Romanian parliament on April 19, a referendum in four weeks' time will decide whether the president must go or not. "April 19th is not only significant because it could make Basescu the first president of an EU member state to be suspended, but also because powerful elites, namely the unholy trinity of party interests, the economy and the media, have gone to great trouble to make him keep his mouth shut. In spite of his mercurial character, over the past year Basescu has become the only hope of reform Romanians have. The EU should carefully consider whether the reforms have a chance in a country where the elites wield so much power. It will be a while before Romania returns to normality after this parliamentary putsch."

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