He was nominated the UDMR candidate for the presidential election of November 2000, after winning the nomination in an inner-party race with the more radical László Tőkés, the Union's Honorary Chairman. Frunda was endorsed by UDMR leader Béla Markó, who advised party members not to vote for a change in policy; in reaction, Tőkés stressed that his adversary winning was going to "set in stone the wrong political line for a long time" (additionally, he accused the UDMR's leadership of displaying "moral decay"). Frunda was eventually voted by 59 members of the UDMR Council (Tőkés received 34 votes).