PSD is not only in crisis, but also in a double electoral campaign. The internal one, for the election of the future president, and the one to recover the lost electorate in view of the 2028 elections.
From this perspective, the party’s decisions must be viewed, starting with the vote for Sorin Grindeanu’s interim position.
If the team of Daniel Baluță had been victorious in this vote, there was a chance for the party to behave responsibly and to assume participation in a government that cannot be a majority without it.
Yes, it wouldn't have been easy as long as Nicușor Dan spent the first part of the campaign with sustained attacks on the former coalition and especially on PSD and Marcel Ciolacu. But being new faces at the top of PSD, they had an interest in conveying a message of reform.
But Sorin Grindeanu, from the old team of PSD, associated with the Nordis scandal, the one through which Marcel Ciolacu hopes to continue his mandate, at least for a while, because power and loyalty are very difficult notions to harmonize, won the vote for the interim position.
Grindeanu's victory in the vote for the interim position indicates that PSD will do exactly what is expected of it, according to its traditional policy, which is to maximize its extremely advantageous position as an indispensable party for the majority.
Sorin Grindeanu announced that PSD is mostly in favor of constructive opposition, meaning to support from the Opposition the decisions of the Government about which the party's interim president knows from the inside, he says, that will follow. Meaning those politically costly budget corrections, inevitable even though Romania seems to have received a time bonus from Brussels.
Meaning a minority and deadly government to be sent forward to decide, to cut, to restructure, and for PSD to keep it on life support, so it doesn't fall until PSD is ready to return to power. When ready, the majority in the Opposition, PSD - AUR, will quickly remove the Government.
How harsh PSD's constructive opposition will be can be imagined as long as the party's main objective is to regain the third of its lost electorate in December compared to the 2020 elections. It is now with AUR, so PSD cannot afford to be gentle with the government.
But, of course, also because some of the Social Democrats still voted for Nicușor Dan, terrified by the economic insecurity projected by George Simion, PSD cannot afford to directly refuse governance. It prefers the Opposition, but is open to discussions, Mr. Grindeanu has an open mandate, etc.
In fact, the Social Democrats only want to position themselves in the best possible way, to have the benefits of power, positions, and money in exchange for punctual support of the Government, but also the political advantage of the Opposition. So, they will fiercely negotiate every vote, and the party will be constantly vocal and uncompromising in competition with AUR.
The question is who would accept to take over the government under these conditions more than sacrificial, downright suicidal, between the pressure of unpopular measures and overwhelming opposition. Because if they somehow succeed, they will be immediately sent packing to only deal with the aftermath. Like when the USL dismissed the Boc Government, just when the worst was over and it was preparing to restore salaries, which the Ponta Government took credit for.
In these conditions, it is worth discussing whether the correct solution, so that PSD and AUR do not capitalize on the effort of recovery, would be a technocratic government, supported in Parliament by PSD PNL USR UDMR, with clear objectives and possibly endorsed by the BNR, the only institution that has not lost its head in the general madness.
A technocratic government is an emergency solution, a bad one, but less bad than a minority political government. After all, let's not forget for a moment that the campaign for 2028 started yesterday when things could be much worse than what we have already experienced.