The referendum in Romania is invalid.

Romanian officials said on July 29 that the referendum to impeach President Traian Basescu was invalid because the voter turnout did not reach the minimum 50%.

According to the Central Election Office, the voter turnout in the July 29 referendum was estimated at only 45.92% and according to Romanian law, such a referendum is invalid because the participation rate did not exceed half.

The Central Election Office has not yet announced the results of the referendum, but according to two exit polls, more than 80% of voters support Mr. Basescu's impeachment.

President Traian Basescu "escaped" the referendum. (Source: Reuters)

Speaking on national television earlier, Mr Basescu had declared the referendum a lost one due to low turnout. "Romanians invalidated the referendum by not participating," he said.

However, the ruling Social Liberal Alliance party said the referendum would be valid, as the turnout was over 50%. According to the party, the preliminary results of the Central Election Office are only estimates based on the actual results at 2,889/18,242 polling stations and the "real" results will be known after the vote counting process is completed.

According to referendum law, the president will be removed from office if 50%+1 votes support this and the referendum is considered valid if the voter turnout is 50% plus one citizen on the fixed electoral list.

If the turnout falls below 50%, the referendum will be declared invalid and Mr Basescu will be reinstated for a term that ends in 2014. Mr Basescu was suspended from office by MPs from the Social-Liberal Alliance, which took power in May, on July 6.

If the referendum fails, President Basescu will remain in office until 2014 after having held the position for the past eight years.

If the majority of voters participating in the referendum approve the president's impeachment, within the next three months, Romania will have to hold a new presidential election, coinciding with the election of the country's new National Assembly./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT