Former president Basescu’s party backs president Iohannis in second round

The Popular Movement Party (PMP), the political vehicle of Romania’s former president Traian Basescu, decided to support incumbent president Klaus Iohannis in the second round against the Social Democratic Party’s candidate - former prime minister Viorica Dancila, PMP’s spokesperson Mihai Neamtu announced in a press conference.

He said that PMP can’t endorse a left-wing candidate, "especially a person who is so unrepresentative for Romania," Mediafax reported.

However, Neamtu warned that the president’s decision not to accept direct debates with his challenger might decrease the turnout even more than in the first round, when the number of Romanians who voted was the lowest ever in the past three decades.

If president Iohannis refuses the debates, the risk that more people stay home or invalidate their votes is rising, Neamtu warned.

He suggested that president Iohannis should have at least a debate with representatives of the media, if not with his challenger.

President Iohannis won the first round of the elections with a score of 37.5%, significantly higher than that of former PM Viorica Dancila (22.7%).

PMP’s candidate in the first round was former culture minister Theodor Paleologu, who managed to get 5.7% of the votes.

The USR+PLUS alliance, whose candidate, Dan Barna, was third in the first round, with 14.7% of the votes, also announced it would support Iohannis in the second round.

(Photo: Traian Basescu Facebook Page)