Romania's Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced before the start of the Social Democratic organization gathering that he would propose the organization to resign from the ruling coalition. After the meeting, he announced that he had resigned.
The parliamentary elections in Romania were held on 1 December. The ruling coalition was formed by the Social Democratic organization (PSD), the National-Liberal organization (NLP), the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and representatives of national minorities. The coalition nominated erstwhile legislature president Crina Antonescu; he finished 3rd in the first round.
"I will propose to my SDP colleagues to leave this coalition. If they vote, present I will resign as President," he told Ciolac journalists.
After gathering his formation, Ciolacu said that "a ruling coalition was formed in December with 2 objectives: to guarantee a unchangeable government and to elect a candidate to win the presidential election in Romania".
– We failed to accomplish 1 of the 2 objectives. Yesterday we saw Romanian voices, which means the ruling coalition has no legitimacy. I proposed to my colleagues to leave the ruling coalition, which straight leads to my resignation from the Prime Minister's position – explained Ciolac, quoted by the Digi24 tv portal.
– alternatively of letting the future president replace me (someone else – ed.), I decided to resign myself," he said.
According to Reuters, PSD parliamentarians will leave the coalition, but ministers will stay in their positions until a fresh majority emerges after the second circular of the presidential election.
He pointed out that the coalition had failed to accomplish its intended goal in the presidential election.
On May 4, Romania held the first circular of presidential elections in which the leader of the Nationalist organization Alliance for Romanian Unification (AUR) George Simion finished first, scoring 41% of the vote, while Bucharest mayor Nicosor Dan finished second with 21% of the vote. The second circular of elections will be held on 18 May.
This year's presidential election in Romania is held during a period of political crisis triggered by the annulment of the results of the first circular of the 2024 elections, in which the independent candidate Calin Georgescu prevailed, but these results were cancelled due to alleged interference via social media. This decision sparked protests in the country and accusations of suppression of opposition by the Romanian authorities, among others from the US administration.
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Romania's Prime Minister resigns due to election results
