The following day the constitutional court, which had earlier ruled that Mr Basescu's misdemeanours were not sufficient to merit impeachment, ruled that the impeachment proceedings were legal.

ECONOMIST: Efforts to impeach the president will fail

At the end of the day, the constitutional implication of Mr Macdonald's appointment is precisely zero.

ECONOMIST: Peer pressure

The judges who replaced them were asked to take a fresh oath of office under an interim constitutional order issued the same day.

BBC: Musharraf to face Pakistan probe