Former Romanian Tourism Minister Elena Udrea resigned from the Democrat Liberal Party PDL and joined the Popular Movement Party.  .

She’s not the only one to make this move, unnamed sources say, quoted by local media. Romanian media suggest 15 other PDL members will jump ship to join the party which is believed to be the ‘child project’ of Romanian president Traian Basescu.

Udrea recently criticized the PDL leadership, and she had been asked to join the party’s National Board on February 1, to explain why she made those public comments against her own party. Instead, Udrea let them know when was not planning to join the meeting, and that she will be resigning instead.

The Popular Movement was an NGO started in 2013 by a group of the Romanian president’s counselors. The NGO turned into right party under the same name, after a poll on the NGOs website showed that that only 11 percent of the respondents wanted the new movement to stay a foundation, while the rest saw it becoming a party. The Bucharest Court recently decided to grant the Popular Movement the party status, under the leadership of Eugen Tomac.

Presidential adviser Sebastian Lăzăroiu has said the new party will be open to welcoming people from other parties, including from the Democratic Liberal Party PDL, which, in his opinion, might cease to exist in 2016.

Former presidential counselor and minister Daniel Funeriu recently announced he will also join the Popular Movement and that he plans to become a candidate for the European Parliament.

Elena Udrea is likely to want to run for president after Basescu’s mandate will expire this year, an option which was confirmed by several PDL members, who already started to criticize her. They said the most likely reason for the move was to ensure a presidential candidacy.

Romanian president Traian Basescu previously hinted at this possibility, saying that time has come for a woman to run for president, and mentioning that Elena Udrea was a ‘won bet’. The two have been working together for years, ever since he was the Bucharest mayor.

Udrea, who attracted headlines for her fashion items, among others, recently divorced businessman Dorin Cocos and went through a total life makeover, which, according to pundits, could be part of a wider plan to prepare her image for the presidential race.

Romanian president Traian Basescu is at his second mandate, and by law, he cannot run for office again. But pundits expect him to support Udrea in the presidential race; some suggest he could even target the Prime Minister position should Udrea become the president.

editor@romania-insider.com