President Nicușor Dan, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, and USR President Dominic Fritz have agreed that PNL and USR will have a common candidate for the Mayor of Bucharest in order not to split the right-wing votes.
President Nicușor Dan insisted that USR designate the candidate for Bucharest, given that PNL obtained the position of prime minister, although, with 15%, it is only the third party in terms of weight in Parliament, political sources tell News.ro.
At this moment, former USR leader Cătălin Drulă is the favorite to become the common candidate supported by USR and PNL for Bucharest. However, there are several PNL leaders who do not agree with this move.
- Nicușor Dan says about Cătălin Drulă that he has the profile of the Mayor of the Capital: He is welcome in the competition
- Drulă wants to run for the Mayor of Bucharest with the support of USR and PNL: I would like Ciprian Ciucu to support my candidacy
”It will be difficult for Ilie Bolojan to impose Drulă. The Bucharest organization certainly does not want Drulă, but there are also many branches from the country that support having either their own candidate or a common candidate of the governing coalition, so including PSD in the discussion,” sources from the leadership of PNL tell News.ro.
The Liberals reproach Drulă for the strong position he had towards PNL during his term as Minister of Transport four years ago. Also, the PNL Bucharest branch is totally against the former USR leader.
Sebastian Burduja, the President of PNL Bucharest, would like Stelian Bujduveanu, the current interim mayor of the Capital, to be the common candidate of the governing coalition, the sources mentioned.
Another option discussed in PNL is the candidacy of Ciprian Ciucu, the mayor of Sector 6, elected with over 70% of the votes in last year's election. However, Ciucu is in cold relations with both Sebastian Burduja, the leader of PNL Bucharest, and Hubert Thuma, the President of Ilfov County Council, one of the most influential PNL leaders in the Capital, the same sources claim.
Furthermore, Ciucu does not have support from President Nicușor Dan, as the two have been involved in several disputes regarding the administration of the Capital.
President Nicușor Dan and Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan have calculated that a common PNL-USR candidate would compel other right-wing competitors to withdraw from the race.
Who is PSD preparing as a candidate
On the other hand, the PSD leadership is trying to convince Daniel Băluţă, the mayor of Sector 4, to run for Mayor of Bucharest. However, Băluţă publicly announced that he will not enter the race, disappointed that he lost the competition with Sorin Grindeanu for the interim leadership of the party.
If Băluţă does not change his mind, Sorin Grindeanu would like to put Rareş Hopincă, the mayor of Sector 2, into the battle, political sources tell News.ro.
Additionally, MEP Gabriela Firea, the leader of the PSD Bucharest organization, could run for the fourth time for Mayor of Bucharest. In 2016, she defeated Nicușor Dan, then lost in 2020 and 2024.
Also from the PSD area, Dan Cristian Popescu, former deputy mayor of Sector 2, currently a general councilor elected on the PSD list, has announced his candidacy.
Who has entered the race so far
So far, Ana Ciceală and Octavian Berceanu have announced their candidacy for Bucharest. Ana Ciceală, close to Nicușor Dan, was among the founders of the Save Bucharest Union (USB), the precursor of USR. Currently, she is supported by the SENS party, founded by MEP Nicu Ştefănuţă.
And Octavian Berceanu, former head of the Environmental Guard in the Cîțu Government, announced his candidacy on behalf of REPER, the party founded by Dacian Cioloş. In fact, Octavian Berceanu criticized President Nicușor Dan after the latter appeared with Cătălin Drulă at the Cotroceni Palace.
“Mr. President Nicușor Dan, I supported and voted for you for the position of country president, not master of the county,” Berceanu reacted after Nicușor Dan publicly stated that he met with Cătălin Drulă to discuss Bucharest's issues, especially public transport.
When could the elections take place
Partial elections could be organized at the end of November, according to the agreement between President Nicușor Dan and Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. However, the date has not yet been agreed upon in the governing coalition.
PSD would like to push the elections for Bucharest to the spring of next year, as the party focuses on internal elections. The PSD Congress will be held in the fall, and the competition for the party leadership promises to be extremely tight.
Sorin Grindeanu, the current interim leader, will run for a full mandate, but there are more and more influential leaders who challenge him: MPs Titus Corlăţean and Robert Cazanciuc, the mayor of Galați, Ionuț Pucheanu, and the mayor of Buzău, Constantin Toma.