BUCHAREST (AFP) – Romanians began voting on Sunday in a run-off presidential election, hoping to find a way out of the severe recession and political turmoil that has plagued the country for months.

Voters will have to choose between incumbent centre-right president Traian Basescu, a former sea captain promising tough state reforms, and his social-democrat rival Mircea Geoana, an ex-diplomat who pledges to maintain jobs and ‘’reunite Romania’’ after years of political squabblings.

The two contenders, both in their fifties, came out almost neck-and-neck in the first round of voting two weeks ago, with Basescu winning 32.44 percent of ballots and Geoana 31.15 percent.But the challenger looks favorite to triumph in the run-off, having won the support of the PNL liberal party, Romania’s third main political party, and the Hungarian minority party, the UDMR.

Bolivia's Morales seen cruising to reelection

LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose leftist economic policies have made him broadly popular with the poor but angered business leaders, is expected to win re-election on Sunday, allowing him to expand state control over the economy.

A victory by Morales would solidify his dominance over Bolivian politics and further weaken a divided conservative opposition tied to the country’s business elite. Opinion polls show Morales, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, taking more than 50 percent of the vote and his Movement Toward Socialism party could win control of Congress.

Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, nationalized important sectors of the economy in his first term, including energy and mining companies, which generated a windfall for state coffers that he has used to boost social spending.

A former llama herder and coca leaf farmer raised in extreme poverty, Morales faces two conservative rivals, Manfred Reyes Villa, a former governor and army captain, and wealthy cement magnate Samuel Doria Medina.