Iohannis (PNL): Antonescu's withdrawal from the presidential race, gesture of a great politician

National Liberal Party (PNL) resigning First Deputy Chairman Klaus Iohannis, candidate to the party's chairmanship, on Saturday said that Crin Antonescu's withdrawal from the presidential elections race represented "the gesture of a great politician."

"Today I have seen the gesture of a great politician: Crin Antonescu. I witnessed a unique gesture over the past 24 years, made by a politician with a very strong position, very well placed, who gave up all these in order to strengthen the party. Through his decision, Crin Antonescu proved that he put the interest of the party and of Romania before his own interest and his own political career," Klaus Iohannis says in a release remitted to Agerpres.

Iohannis believes Antonescu is "the most valuable person of the National Liberal Party." "I hope and wish that together we manage to strengthen PNL and meet the political objectives PNL proposes," Klaus Iohannis adds.

PNL Chairman Crin Antonescu on Saturday announced his intention of not running for President in the elections this year, as a step towards speeding up the project of unifying the Right-Wing forces and for designating as soon as possible a single candidate of the Right-Wing to Romania's Presidency.

He told a press conference that he decided to end his interim chairmanship of PNL.

Klaus Iohannis runs for PNL chairmanship and for now has not said whether he would run for Romania's President or not. AGERPRES