He returned to his country in autumn 1919, with a designs to form a single political group of democratic persuasion, stressing Conservative accomplishments (such as selling state land to peasants and confiscating "mainmorte" estates), while aiming to persuade the PNL to back electoral reform. During his stay in Paris, while the main Conservative Party disintegrated, the PCD had itself suffered a major crisis; according to Ionescu's rival and one-time political partner Constantin Argetoianu, Ionescu's temporary residence on Calea Victoriei subsequently became a meeting place for various Conservative politicians (whom Argetoianu repeatedly described as "Conservative wrecks").