President returns after second impeachment bid fails

The second suspension of President Traian Basescu ended formally on August 27, when the Romanian Parliament accepted the Constitutional Court's decision to invalidate the July 29 referendum to dismiss the head of state.

September 2012 - From the Print Edition

Tension between Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his USL coalition and President Basescu escalated in June, when Parliament chose Ponta to represent Romania at the EU summit. The dispute had been sent to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the head of state should attend the European Council. In defiance of the Court's opinion, Ponta left for Brussels, to criticism from international institutions.
One month later, the ruling coalition formed by the PSD, PNL and PC dismissed the heads of the two chambers of Parliament and the People's Lawyer, while adopting an emergency ordinance curtailing the powers of the Constitutional Court.
On July 6, Parliament voted for the suspension of the President and Crin Antonescu was named interim President. The referendum to dismiss Basescu took place on July 29, but the Constitutional Court declared it invalid as the necessary turnout threshold had not been met.
Pressure on the Constitutional Court continued after the decision, with the USL calling for a recount to demonstrate that the minimum level of voters, 50 percent, had in fact been met, rendering the referendum valid. But by a margin of six judges to three, the Constitutional Court finally ruled the referendum invalid as the turnout had fallen below the requirement.
The first attempt to impeach Basescu was in 2007.