Mugur Isarescu enters the race for Cotroceni

Premier Mugur Isarescu yesterday announced his intention to run in the presidential elections. In a letter he sent to the support group “Isarescu-presedinte” (Isarescu-president), which is made up of 300 public personalities, the PM states that, as soon as the 300,000 signatures required by law are gathered, he will officially announce his candidacy and will present his programme.

Former PNL (Liberal Party) National Council president Nicolae Manolescu, one of the support group’s initiators, yesterday said that the group was to start a campaign aimed at gathering the necessary signatures and added that he hoped the action would be finalised by the end of August.

Last week, Isarescu conditioned his accepting to run in the elections as an independent on his obtaining the support of a “significant number of citizens”.

The Premier yesterday said that he was “impressed,” “honoured'” and “encouraged” by the people who made up the support group, which he deemed as being “a significant part of the civil society, not only numerically, but especially qualitatively.”

The support group is made up of several PNL members, among whom the minister of Finances Decebal Traian Remes, senators Alexandru Paleologu, Dan Lazarescu and Vicentiu Gavanescu, deputies aerban Radulescu Zonner and Laurentiu Priceputu, Ioana Bratianu, Gheorghe Gorun and atefan Augustin-Doinas.

Among the personalities who have also signed the supportive document there are Romanian ambassadors in France and Finland Dumitru Ceausu and Smaranda Enache, as well as film and theatre directors Lucian Pintilie, Catalina Buzoianu and Alexandru Darie.

Isaresu’s candidacy for president is deemed as “having good chances to be successful” by political analyst Stelian Tanase. He believes that the Premier has “an image advantage” due to his decision to run independently.

Tanase says that the fight for the second round will be dominated by the Isarescu-Stolojan duel. He believes that any of the four candidates – Isarescu, Stolojan, Roman and Melescanu – will benefit from the support of the other three in the second round.

“In all variants, Iliescu loses,” Tanase says.

The Peasants yesterday welcomed the Premier’s decision to candidate. “This is an unusual formula of announcing a candidature. We will get to collecting signatures for Mugur Isarescu at maximum speed,” stated chairman Ion Diaconescu.

PNL prime deputy chairman Valeriu Stoica maintains however that the letter addressed by Mugur Isarescu to supporters of his candidature “very clearly” points to the fact that the chief of Executive does not yet run for Presidency and he continues to be an independent premier.

Asked whether there is the possibility of collecting the 300,000 signatures demanded by Isarescu for his running for the president position, Stoica answered he would comment on this situation “at the right moment”.

Stoica suggested to Isarescu, two weeks ago, to candidate for the president position from the part of the Liberals, but the premier refused to become a PNL member.

According to the latest CURS poll, conducted during the period August 7-10, Isarescu was placed third in the electorate’s preferences, holding 15 percent of vote intentions for the presidentials, coming after Ion Iliescu, quoted with 36% and Theodor Stolojan with 20 percent of options.