Changes on the political scene
The victory of the self-proclaimed sovereigntist candidate in the first round of the presidential elections triggered major political shifts in Romania
Ştefan Stoica, 06.05.2025, 14:00
The traditional political system is reeling after the first round of the presidential elections, decisively won by the ultranationalist populist George Simion, leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party. With over 40 percent, Simion starts as the favorite in the decisive round on May 18 against the independent Nicuşor Dan, the pro-Western mayor of Bucharest, who collected half of the former’s votes. The withdrawal from the race of Crin Antonescu, the joint candidate of the PSD – PNL – UDMR governing coalition, a new major setback for the big traditional parties after last year’s cancelled presidential election, has led the Social Democrats to leave the coalition, which they say no longer has legitimacy.
As a result, the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu resigned from the executive leadership. The Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu, also interim leader of the PNL, was appointed interim prime minister. The Social-Democratic ministers will, however, ensure the interim in office alongside their liberal colleagues and those from Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians (UDMR), who remain in the government, for a period that cannot exceed 45 days. On the other hand, PSD has decided not to publicly support either of the two candidates. This, despite its membership in the family of European socialists and, implicitly, in the large family of democratic parties on the continent, which would have imposed, commentators say, an unreserved positioning alongside Nicuşor Dan.
The PNL did not do the same: the party’s National Permanent Bureau voted unanimously to support the independent candidate Nicuşor Dan in the second round of the presidential elections. ‘Extremism must be stopped from reaching the Cotroceni Palace’ (ed. – the headquarters of the presidency), stressed Cătălin Predoiu. According to him, at the moment, Romanians are interested in two things – what happens with the presidential elections and what happens with the management of the country.
From the pro-Western opposition, the leader – how else if not interim? – of the Save Romania Union (USR), Dominic Fritz, has stated that Romania is in a state crisis, one of institutions and one of trust, and that all parties should start a cleansing program. Fritz ensures the interim leadership of the USR after the resignation of Elena Lasconi, on Monday, following the very low score she got in the presidential race. Elena Lasconi is the same one who qualified, alongside the extremist Călin Georgescu, in the second round of last year’s presidential elections, cancelled due to the flaws of the electoral process in favor of the latter. USR supports Nicuşor Dan without reservations in the second round. The two components of the executive binomial, the presidency and the government, currently have interim leaderships. After May 18, there is a chance of getting out of the sign of provisionality and uncertainties, but in only one scenario: the victory of the pro-Western candidate. (MI)
