The week that started with a day off should bring important decisions for the continuation of the electoral year, with its climax, the presidential elections.
The coalition is set to meet on Tuesday to decide when to hold the presidential elections, in September, as agreed by PSD and PNL back in March, or later, possibly in November-December, as preferred by the Liberals.
The confusion within PNL and the resistance of PSD have already been explained.
It would have been a simple decision, according to the agreement reached in March, if the two parties had stuck to the plan of a common candidate, an idea that was, however, sabotaged in Bucharest.
The latest speculated date for the presidential elections is a compromise one, neither as PSD wants, between September 15-29, nor as the Liberals would prefer in November, but rather September 29 - October 13.
So, none of the leaders will have kept their word. Neither Nicole Ciucă, when strongly advocating for September, nor Marcel Ciolacu, who almost swore not to change the agreement. Just a clash of egos.
Regarding the candidacies, most are already quite clear: Mircea Geoană, Nicolae Ciucă, George Simion, Diana Șoșoacă, Elena Lasconi.
What will PSD do?
Marcel Ciolacu is under intense pressure to run for president, in the name of the tradition that the PSD president takes on this fight.
I don't know how many truly believe he has a real chance, but many know that this candidacy practically vacates the leadership of the party, and if Marcel Ciolacu were to win and go to Cotroceni, or if he were to lose and, traditionally, the party would turn its back on him.
Simply refusing the candidacy would not be easy for Marcel Ciolacu either and could lead to the loss of internal power if he fails to offer a consistent alternative project.
One option would be a tandem with Mircea Geoana, rejected by many PSD leaders. The most comfortable would be a tandem with Nicolae Ciucă in the name of stability, but PSD will not accept supporting the president of another party.
On the other hand, no matter how imperative stability may be, no matter how good the personal relationship between the two presidents is, no matter how tempting the project of continuing the coalition after the elections, a campaign in which the two parties have rival candidates is bound to affect governance.
Could they return to a common candidate? Theoretically, this possibility also exists, a hypothesis in which even the election date would become irrelevant.
However, it will be very difficult for the Liberals to give up Nicolae Ciucă's candidacy, to whom, for political reasons that are hard to understand, they seem to give a real chance of winning, after covering the country with huge billboards for him.
And, as mentioned, it is equally difficult for PSD to support a candidate from another party, especially after clearly winning the local elections. The red map compels them.
The compromise would be an independent candidate, but after the way they treated Dr. Cătălin Cîrstoiu in Bucharest, after burying the idea themselves, a relaunch would be difficult. Not impossible, of course, as some names are already being mentioned, primarily that of the SNSPA rector, Remus Pricopie.
But what independent figure with some notoriety and self-respect would get involved with PSD and PNL after witnessing the story in Bucharest?