The Romanian Prime Minister resigns as head of the Social Democrats after the electoral setback

The president of the liberal formation presents his resignation

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The Prime Minister of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, has presented his resignation as leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) after Sunday’s electoral setback by falling short of the second round of the presidential elections, something that his party has not suffered since 1989 and comes on the eve of Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

“The resignation was a unilateral decision,” Ciolacu said this Monday, who announced that he will not run for any position within the ranks of the PSD in the future. “Last night I presented my resignation, today I will remain with my colleagues until the elections on Sunday,” he said.

Ciolacu began his speech by saying that he had personally congratulated the winners of last election night and confirmed that despite the fact that the difference with the second most voted candidate, Elena Lasoni, is very small – just about two thousand votes – , they are not going to present any appeal.

“The rules of democracy and the importance of this second round are much greater than our personal interests,” said Ciolacu, who explained that he will remain prime minister until these new parliamentary elections pass and a new majority is reached, reports the ‘Adevarul’ newspaper.

The president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Nicolae Ciuca, also presented his resignation this Monday after his party, an ally of the PSD, failed to advance to the second round of the elections after obtaining only 8.79 percent of the vote. the votes.

“Despite the mistakes we have made, we have learned the lesson that the electorate has given us and we will respect the decision of the Romanians,” he stressed, adding that the new leadership of the party “will not be alone,” according to Agerpres.

Along with Ciuca, the party’s four first vice presidents, as well as its general secretary, Lucian Bode, are also expected to leave the leadership of the party. One of the names being considered as a successor to the current president is that of Ilie Bolojan, mayor of the municipality of Oradea, according to the aforementioned newspaper.

For the first time since 1989, the Social Democrats do not advance to the second round of the presidential elections. This Sunday, Calin Georgescu, an independent far-right candidate, in favor of normalizing relations with Russia, Eurosceptic and opposed to NATO, won with 23 percent of the votes and against all odds.

On the ballots on December 8, the conservative candidate Elena Lasoni will be alongside Georgescu, who has obtained only about 2,180 more votes than Ciolacu. In total, he has achieved 1,770,629 votes – 19.17 percent – while the Social Democrat is left with 1,769,168 – 19.15 percent -.

The defeat of the Social Democrats and the consequent resignation of Ciolacu take on greater relevance since legislative elections are held this Sunday, which will represent a new challenge for a party that is not going through its best moment.

Currently, the PSD is the party with the most representation in both chambers, in which it has the support of the liberals.