The leader of Romania's National Liberal Party (PNL), former prime minister Ludovic Orban, reportedly hurries up organizing a party congress.

He hopes to get another term at the party's helm before his opponents organize and come up with a strong opponent, according to sources quoted by G4Media.

Orban wasn't able to retain his position as head of the Government after PNL scored some 5pp below the expectations in last November's elections.

He was voted speaker of the Chamber of Deputies - a key role in the legislative process but gave up several key ministries to the Liberals' coalition partners, USR-PLUS and UDMR, which upset some of his party's members.

The new prime minister Florin Citu, formerly finance minister, has not yet expressed plans.

Still, there are more vocal opponents within the party that could run against Orban - such as Cluj-Napoca Mayor Emil Boc or MEP Robert Sighiartau.

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andrei@romania-insider.com