Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, who heads the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL), appealed Sunday to all parties for a halt to political struggle and, instead, to give full attention to the needs of the people.

The appeal came after President Traian Basescu survived an impeachment referendum on May 19 in a standoff with the parliament and the government. Almost three quarters of the voters were against impeaching Basescu.

At the party's political bureau meeting, Popescu-Tariceanu said that he had "wasted too much time in the meaningless political confrontation and failed to listen seriously to the people. That's a big error."

He said the results of the referendum proved a failure for the entire political circle, showing a large gap between the concerns of politicians and the people.

The PNL decided at the meeting to send government officials to rural and urban areas to better acquaint themselves with the needs of the people.

The party also agreed to put Popescu-Tariceanu at the head of a delegation to political consultations at the request of President Basescu.

Analysts say that Popescu-Tariceanu made the appeal in search of continued support in parliament for his coalition government.

The low turnout of 43.96 percent in the referendum mirrored growing repugnance toward politics and politicians among many Romanians.

Following the failure of the impeachment referendum, the Social Democrat Party and some other parties in parliament threatened to withdraw support for the PSD and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, the major partners in the coalition government.