Romania’s largest center-right parties merge, but still to decide on presidential candidate

Romania’s two largest opposition center-right parties voted unanimously to merge on Saturday, July 26, combining their forces ahead of the presidential elections on November 2, that will pit them against the ruling leftist alliance. The National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democrat Liberal Party (PD-L) will support a single presidential candidate, hoping to boost their chances against the left’s likely candidate, Prime Minister Victor Ponta. The members of the two parties haven’t decided yet who will be their candidate for the presidential elections. One likely candidate is Klaus Iohannis, 55, the head of the Liberals and the ethnic German mayor of Sibiu a city in Transylvania in the center of Romania. The other possible candidate is former justice minister Catalin Predoiu, vice-president of PD-L. An official announcement remains to be made after an internal analysis in the new party. editor@romania-insider.com