Marcel Ciolacu resigns as leader of Romania’s Social Democrats after presidential defeat, Liberal leadership also under pressure

Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that he is stepping down as leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) after finishing in third place in the first round of the presidential elections. Nicolae Ciuca, the president of the junior partner in the governing coalition, the National Liberal Party (PNL), is also under pressure after gathering only 8.7% of votes - a negative record for the Romanian Liberals.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), the two main parties in Romania currently in the governing coalition, are both set to reshuffle their leaderships after suffering a major defeat in the presidential elections on November 24.

Neither party has gotten their candidate in the second round of the presidential elections, a first in Romania's democratic history. The presidents of both parties, namely PM Marcel Ciolacu and Senate president Nicoale Ciuca, ran as candidates.

On Monday, the day after the election, Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation as PSD leader after coming in third place, behind reformist USR leader Elena Lasconi by roughly 2,500 votes and independent Calin Georgescu. His failure in the elections marks the first time since the 1989 Revolution that the PSD will not have a candidate in the second round of presidential elections.

Marcel Ciolacu gave a brief press statement on Monday afternoon, November 25, announcing that he had congratulated Elena Lasconi. He also stated that he will remain prime minister until after the parliamentary elections on December 1 and that he will not run in the next internal party elections.

"I congratulated Mrs. Lasconi, as is customary. PSD will not file a complaint, even though the difference is very small. Last night, I submitted my resignation to the party's secretary general. The rules of democracy are more important than our personal interests. Today, at 5 PM, I have called a National Political Council, where we will announce the decision we have made. We are not talking about accepting the resignation because it is a unilateral act. I will remain with my colleagues until Sunday, during the elections. I am firmly convinced that in the near future we will have a candidate for the internal elections in PSD. I will not be running in these elections. I will remain prime minister until a majority is formed in the future parliament," Ciolacu said.

In the National Liberal camp, Dan Vîlceanu, a former minister in the Florin Cîțu government, along with popular liberal leader Ilie Bolojan, said that the leadership of the party must take the blame for failing to get its candidate to the second round of voting. PNL leader, retired general Nicolae Ciuca, got only 8.8% of votes and placed fifth, despite running a long and pricy campaign. Analysts, however, pointed out that the party’s association with outgoing president Klaus Iohannis severely hurt the party’s score.