A Liberal dissident who was ousted from the National Liberal Party-PNL last week and presented an alternative Liberal platform over the weekend announced his resignation from the presidential administration on Monday night in order to focus on his new political project.

Theodor Stolojan is due to leave his job as a presidential aide on November 1. He is the seventh person to leave the team of councilors formed around President Traian Basescu. Of the team he brought to the Presidential Palace after the 2004 elections, only his spokeswoman Adriana Saftoiu remains.

Ex-PNL head Stolojan was ousted from his political party last week over his close partnership with Basescu, who’s been propelled to power as head of the Democratic Party-PD. PNL and PD share the bulk of the current government, but their alliance has been marred by various conflicts between Basescu and PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu, a Liberal, over the past two years.

Stolojan and several other Liberal dissidents announced an alternative Liberal platform last weekend that calls for the unification of center-right forces in Romania, including PNL and PD.