Traian Basescu

Eighteen million Romanians are voting for president on Sunday among 14 candidates.

The most likely winner, according to public opinion polls, is current PM Victor Ponta.

Romania's Social Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta leads in opinion polls ahead of the first round of presidential elections on November 2.

According to a CSCI poll conducted from October 27 to October 29,the 42-year-old prime minister is expected to garner 40% support, while his main opponent, Liberal Party head Klaus Iohannis, will get 29%.

Zsolt Szilagyi, the presidential candidate of the Hungarian People's Party of Transylvania (PPMT) closed his campaign on Friday in Targu Mures (central Romania) by asking President Traian Basescu to read his programme on the 'Transylvanization' of Romania and to vote for him.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Friday that he is worried by President Traian Basescu's recent allegations about the EADS case file, which in his opinion confirms the existence of corruption in the relationship between Romania and Germany.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Friday said that President Traian Basescu needs to say which intelligence service precisely broke the law by taking some pictures of Elena Udrea and Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) head Alina Bica in Paris.

Calin Popescu Tariceanu, independent candidate in the presidential elections backed by the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR), on Thursday evening said that President Traian Basescu's manner of behaviour led to a damaging of the citizens' perception of institutions.

Romania's President Traian Basescu on Wednesday said that in his heart, he would very much like Romania and Moldova to unite, but that can only happen if the Romanians in both countries want to.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the candidate in the presidential elections of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) - the National Union for Romania's Progress (UNPR) - the Conservative Party (PC) Alliance on Tuesday evening said that Liberal Klaus Iohannis was a 'poor' copy of Traian Basescu and that he had no idea about economic data such as the country's GDP or the budget deficit.

Liberal head Klaus Iohannis, running for president of Romania in this Sunday's polls, said on Tuesday the target he sets for the first round of voting would be more than 30 percent of the votes.

President Traian Basescu said on Tuesday he is ruling out the possibility to have received money from Microsoft in the electoral campaign in 2009, when he won his second term.

'I rule out this possibility, that someone might have come and given me money from Microsoft for the campaign. It's childish', Basescu told Adevarul Live.