Marcel Ciolacu has officially announced his resignation from the position of prime minister following the PSD’s decision to break the governing coalition.
UPDATE: Interim President Ilie Bolojan has acknowledged the resignation from the position of prime minister submitted Monday evening by Marcel Ciolacu. An interim prime minister will be designated on Tuesday morning. „The meeting has ended. The President has acknowledged the resignation from the position of Prime Minister of the Government of Romania, submitted this evening by Marcel Ciolacu. An interim prime minister will be designated in the first part of tomorrow,” announces the Presidential Administration.
"I saw the vote of the Romanians yesterday. This means that the governing coalition lacks legitimacy, at least in this composition. I have proposed to my colleagues the exit from the governing coalition, which implicitly leads to my resignation from the position of prime minister, a step I will take after meeting with you," stated Ciolacu at the end of the PSD meeting.
"We have decided not to create a new coalition. This coalition is no longer legitimate. Anyway, the future president will change it, that's how I read and saw it with you. There will be a future coalition that will govern. We will see, these discussions will take place after we have an elected president. As long as I am the president of the PSD, there will be no PSD-AUR government," Ciolacu added.
He was also asked about the decision regarding the current leadership of the PSD after the failure in the first round of the presidential elections.
"We have also decided this, to do it on Wednesday after the 18th or on the weekend, where an analysis will be made of the results for each organization and the government," said Marcel Ciolacu after the meeting of the PSD leadership.
Asked why the decision is being made so late, the PSD president said: "Because we have elections on the 18th and my colleagues have decided so."
Before the PSD meeting, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced that he would propose to his colleagues to exit the coalition.
"This coalition, after the cancellation of the December elections and after the parliamentary elections, became a governing coalition, which also has a majority in the Romanian Parliament, with two objectives. The first objective - to create a government, with a prime minister from the Social Democratic Party, because the Social Democratic Party was in the first place, my colleagues proposed me, and the second objective - to have a common candidate for the position of President of Romania.
One of the two objectives was not fulfilled, that of having a common candidate who would become the President of Romania. Mr. Crin Antonescu, the coalition's common candidate, did not enter the second round. Consequently, the coalition agreement was only partially fulfilled.
Today, after seeing the vote of the Romanians and the fact that this coalition did not achieve its objectives, thus having no credibility after the Romanian vote, I will propose to my colleagues that the PSD should exit this coalition. If my colleagues vote to leave this coalition, of course, I, as the prime minister of the coalition, will submit my resignation. Also today, to the interim president of Romania," stated Ciolacu upon arriving at the PSD meeting.
The leaders of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition met for an urgent meeting at noon on Monday, and the National Political Council of the PSD convened at 5:00 PM.
Political sources had previously stated to Spotmedia that Ciolacu would resign today. More information HERE.
The coalition leaders are discussing several options for an interim prime minister, including Daniel David, the Minister of Education.
The common candidate of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition in the presidential elections, Crin Antonescu, failed to qualify for the second round, being defeated by George Simion and Nicușor Dan. Also, this evening, the PNL will hold a meeting.
- Final results of the 2025 presidential elections: Simion wins decisively. Nicușor Dan, over 86,000 votes ahead of Crin Antonescu
- Bucharest sector won by Simion
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- The county where Crin Antonescu won with 74.62%
- The 16 counties where Nicușor Dan did not even rank 3rd
Remains PSD leader
Therefore, Ciolacu remains the leader of the PSD, at least until after the second round of the presidential elections. This is despite the increasing calls from within the PSD for the resignation of the entire leadership and the organization of an extraordinary congress for a major change in the party. In fact, the mayor of Buzău, the stronghold of Prime Minister Ciolacu, openly demanded the resignation of the entire party leadership, stating that "PSD has made a fool of itself."
PSD spokesperson Lucian Romașcanu also stated, on Digi24, that resignation, primarily from the party, is an option for Marcel Ciolacu, considering the results of the presidential elections, as reported by Agerpres.