Former Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu resigned as chairman of the Romanian Social Democratic Party. This happened at a meeting of the National Political Council of the PSD in Bucharest, BTA reported.
It continues at the moment and includes making another important decision - whether the PSD will enter the government or go into opposition. “The non-participation in the formation of a solid government majority – even without a prime minister from the PSD – "may seem like political evasion at a time when Romanians feel a great need for action and responsibility," the leader of the PSD in Arad, Mihai Fifor, commented to Digi24 before the meeting.
According to local media, names such as Sorin Grindeanu (Minister of Transport), Daniel Baluca (Deputy Mayor of Sector Four in Bucharest), Bogdan Ivan (Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitalization), Victor Negresci (Deputy President of the European Parliament and MEP) are being circulated for a new leader of the PSD, as well as an option for collective leadership.
The mayor of Buzău, Constantin Toma, who is a fierce critic of the current leadership, is demanding resignations en bloc. According to him, the PSD should enter the government because major reforms are needed.
“The entire PSD leadership should resign or be dismissed. I hope this happens. The people in the current leadership contributed first of all to the situation in Romania, and then to the situation of the party. My party practically invited people to vote for (far-right presidential candidate) Gheorghe Simion. And thank God, that didn't happen. The Social Democratic Party in its current formula, if it continues like this, will self-destruct," he commented, quoted by Digi24.
Victor Negrescu himself also agreed with the idea that the way the party does politics needs to be rethought and that this is a priority. “The Social Democratic Party is still the largest political party in Romania and we must take responsibility, approaching things as the Romanians demanded through their votes,”, Negrescu stressed.
The newly elected President of Romania, Nicos Dan, also commented on the topic.
“For the moment, it is not clear in which direction the Social Democratic Party wants to go. "I think they need to clarify this issue internally. I would really like them to enter a solid pro-Western government, with solid parliamentary support. We'll see. There is also an option for them to remain in opposition, but still support a pro-Western minority government," he said in an interview with one of the local television stations.
According to former Romanian President Traian Basescu, if the SDP refuses to enter the government, the party will disintegrate. "Going into opposition would be a sign of cowardice, not maturity," he said in an interview with Digi24. Asked whether a minority government without the PSD would be stable, Traian Basescu said he ruled out that possibility given the difficult economic period ahead.
Marcel Ciolacu resigned as prime minister on May 5, after the first round of Romania's presidential election, in which the ruling coalition's candidate Crin Antonescu came in third behind the leader of the "Alliance for the Unification of Romanians" Gheorghe Simion and the independent candidate and current mayor of Bucharest, Nicos Dan.
"Instead of letting the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself," Ciolacu said at the time. He confirmed that the PSD was leaving the government and would not publicly support any of the candidates for president of Romania in the second round of the presidential election.