All 14 Romania president candidates not willing to meet in electoral debate

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

All 14 candidates to president of Romania do not wish to meet in an electoral debate ahead of the first round of the polls to take place this Sunday, say the representatives of the Institute of Public Policies (IPP), the move initiator, following the talks held with the candidates' electoral campaign staff.

According to an IPP release to AGERPRES on Tuesday, Social Democrat candidate Victor Ponta, also the Prime Minister of Romania asked in his answer to the IPP that all 14 presidential contenders be invited to take part in the 'face-to-face' electoral debate, but candidates Kelemen Hunor, Dan Diaconescu and Corneliu Vadim Tudor have failed to give an answer to the IPP proposal.

Answering the Institute invitation, Ponta said 'his only condition for the participation is that the organizers (IPP) should invite all the candidates to the debate, which the IPP did last evening (Monday — editor's note), making sure that every campaign staff were informed or invited. Such arguments do not seem sufficient, since the Social Democrat candidate, at the IPP insistence, explained that he, in fact, will attend such a debate only on condition that all the other candidates effectively take part, a thing that the Institute cannot control or decide', the release explains.

The IPP added it was informed by independent candidate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu that he would not be able to attend the electoral debate, since his schedule does not allow him.

The IPP remains ready to organize such a debate, being convinced the voters deserve such a debate 'at least before the second round of voting with the candidates having remained in the competition'.AGERPRES

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