What Liberal candidates were also rumored to enter the race for the Bucharest City Hall?
The National Liberal Party leadership proposed Marian Munteanu, former leader of the students back in the 90s, to run for the Bucharest City Hall instead of Ludovic Orban who had stepped aside from the race and for all leadership positions in the party due to its prosecution in a criminal case on Monday. The announcement was made by the PNL co-president Alina Gorghiu.
“We had to choose between a political candidature and the option that we also resorted to in the presidential campaign, a technocrat version. It was the perfect option,” Gorghiu argued.
“He is a flag-candidate. I don’t think there is anyone at present not knowing who is Marian Munteanu, what he did,” the Liberal leaders added, also informing that Munteanu will be a PNL member.
According to the other PNL co-president, Vasile Blaga, it was Cătălin Predoiu who made the proposal.
The Liberals are convening in an emergency meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to vote Orban’s substitute for the Bucharest City Hall electoral race.
However, before the announcement, the most rumored names to take Orban’s place were Cătălin Predoiu and Adriana Săftoiu. Many Liberals say that Cătălin Predoiu should assume the candidature for the Bucharest City Hall considering that he is the leader of the PNL Bucharest branch. However, although he wad been repeatedly besieged with this request, Predoiu has constantly denied.
Sources from the party quoted by Mediafax also revealed that both Predoiu and Săftoiu had been measured in the party survey made in February and they had obtained percentages close to Ludovic Orban.
As for Adriana Săftoiu’s potential candidature, the quoted sources said she might assume the responsibility to run for the Bucharest City Hall if the party asks her to.
On the other hand, other sources quoted by Digi24 said that the National Liberal Party also considers co-opting independent contender Nicusor Dan. Some say the party should only endorse his independent candidature, while others suggest he should join the party in order to benefit of the party’s support.
Who is Marian Munteanu?
Born 19 June 1962, he is a former leader of the anti-government protests that took place in 1990 in Romania and were ended violently by the intervention of the miners (the first miners’ riot).
Munteanu was the leader of the Students’ League, which was one of organizers of the protests against Ion Iliescu’s rule. On June 14, 1990, he was severely beaten. A miner was later imprisoned for murder attempt against Muntenu, after witnesses’ statements pointed that he had tried to kill Munteanu using an axe.
He was arrested and detained at Jilava penitentiary between June 18 and August 2, 1990.
As of 2011, Munteanu was teaching ethnology, anthropology and folklore the University of Bucharest.