PP leader Alexandru Averescu was working to gather as much support as needed for prompting Carol to hand him power. His plan backfired: on one hand, the Stelists did not necessarily endorse the idea of a new Averescu government; on the other, the PP moderates protested against Averescu's cohabitation with fascist groups. On November 14, 1935, the Crusade held its first national congress—noted by Iorgulescu for its elevation of Istrati to a cult status. Stelescu proposed that a chair be left empty, to mark that "though he may be dead, we still keep him in our midst."Iorgulescu, p. 5 Also in November, Karadja renounced his position in the Crusade and "plastered the capital's billboards with manifestos of his new party. The name of its organization is National Front and it demands the consolidation of extreme right-wing forces." He and Stelescu reconciled a while after, and had daily consultations with each other at the Athenee Palace. By early 1936, the Constitutional Front still existed, but the PP had effectively withdrawn from it.
