The date of Romania’s upcoming presidential election has sparked off heated debates inside the ruling coalition

The Ruling Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party in Romania are still carrying on talks over the date of the upcoming presidential election

Roxana Vasile, 26.06.2024, 13:50

2024 is “an all-out election year” in Romania. With the elections for the local administration and for the European Parliament already consumed on June 9^th, the ruling coalition in Romania convened last week for talks over the upcoming ballot, the presidential one, which sparked off heated debates inside the ruling coalition.

The Liberals would like to push this election round towards the end of the year, to November or December, whereas the Social-Democrats are lobbying for the month of September, a date already agreed upon within the coalition, although informally.

The Liberals argue that the September election and the holiday season in Romania would overlap and the voting may disturb the beginning of a new school year. So, talks over the election schedule continued into this week as well. The talks on Tuesday between the two ruling formations, the PSD and PNL, went on for three hours to eventually end in a deadlock. The Social Democrats are adamant that the first round of elections be held over September the 15^th and 29^th whereas the Liberals want to have them on November 10^th or 24^th.

The PNL argues that the outcome of the previous election has reshaped the landscape for the upcoming presidential race, whereas the Social Democrats are insisting on implementing a decision that was assumed first.

PSD has even called on the Liberal Interior Minister, Cătălin Predoiu, to decide over the date in September and forward it to the government for endorsement most likely on their next session on Friday. Here is the PSD spokesman Lucian Romascanu.

Lucian Romaşcanu: ʺI believe that Minister Predoiu together with the National Liberal Party will do what they promised to do and we are going to have elections in September. And if they can block this, let’s see if they are going to do it. “

In turn, the PNL’s deputy vice-president, Rareş Bogdan, says that the agreement they had in March is no longer valid and that the presidential election must take place in November.

Rares Bogdan: ʺThe two parties, which convened in Poiana Brasov and in  Sâmbăta de Sus, have decided that each party have their own candidate for the presidential race. So, practically, the agreement in March was terminated as each party want to back their own candidate in the presidential election. So, from our viewpoint, the first proposal is becoming obsolete and we strongly believed these elections must be staged in the Constitutional term, in the month of November.”  

Whether the presidential elections are taking place in September, November or December, let’s not forget that by the end of the present year, Romania will have to stage another round of election, for its Parliament seats.

(bill)