entire process, claims Băsescu is an "illegitimate" leader as he was suspended by Parliament and dismissed by the people. Following his return to Cotroceni, Băsescu maintained a low profile until the regular parliamentary elections. On 9 December 2012, the elections produced a new parliamentary configuration, with an overwhelming USL majority dominating the other parties by a 70% margin. The "presidential party", PDL, only attained 16% of the total votes, failing to win all but one electoral circumscription while former presidential adviser Eugen Tomac won the second external circumscription, including the Republic of Moldova. The landslide victory of the former opposition coalition marginalized Băsescu and drastically reduced his possibilities to negotiate a new PDL-based coalition, thus being left with no other viable alternative than to nominate PSD president Victor Ponta to form the new government. Băsescu and Ponta signed a framework treaty, intended to smoothen the future institutional collaboration between the Presidency and the Government. But soon afterwards, first tensions started to creep in, as Ponta depicted the EU-Budget negotiations outcome for Romania as a political defeat for Băsescu. Late political career On 9 October 2015, Băsescu joined the People's Movement Party (PMP). PMP's fourth congress was held on 24 October, with Băsescu being elected president of the party. In the light of the local elections of 2016, Băsescu expressed his intentions to run for a new term as mayor of Bucharest. However, following an accusation of money laundering, Băsescu retired and PMP subsequently nominated journalist Robert Turcescu as their official candidate. In the 2016 legislative elections, Băsescu won a seat as senator of Bucharest on PMP's list, as the party placed sixth in the elections, with 5.35% of the vote. He resigned from PMP leadership in 2018, and was elected honorary president of the party at the congress in June 2018. Involvement in Moldovan politics Along with the granting of Moldovan citizenship in June 2016 which was subsequently withdrawn on 25 June 2017, Băsescu was elected honorary president of the National Unity Party (PUN). Anatol Șalaru, the party founder, stated that the party leader's seat will remain vacant until Băsescu gets back his Moldovan citizenship. 2020 local elections Băsescu ran for a new term as mayor of Bucharest at the 2020 local elections. Partial results have confirmed that he has secured third place with approximately 11% of the total cast votes. Relationship with the press Băsescu is a major target