PSD will decide only at the end of January whether it remains in the governing coalition or not, announced the party’s president, Sorin Grindeanu, on Monday. The leader of the Social Democrats explained that the decision will be made through an internal vote, after analyzing the budget for 2026 and how Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan takes into account the PSD proposals.
At the same time, Grindeanu justified the party’s failure in the Capital City Mayor election with a „non-political discourse,” which left room for harsh political messages from the opponents.
Internal analysis until the 2026 budget
The National Standing Bureau of the Social Democratic Party met on Tuesday in the party leadership's first meeting since the defeat in the Capital City Mayor elections, where the candidate Daniel Băluţă finished only in third place.
After the PSD leadership meeting, Sorin Grindeanu announced the start of a new period of government evaluation, six months after entering the current coalition. The process will conclude with a vote by the PSD elected officials, similar to the one last summer when approximately 5,000 mayors and local members decided to join the coalition.
"We have decided to enter a period of government analysis. Ultimately, we will have a vote, like six months ago, and we will decide with full knowledge," stated Grindeanu.
The PSD's decision depends on how Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan constructs the 2026 budget and integrates the Social Democrats' proposals.
"It is about the budget, how it is intended to be constructed, how our proposals are taken into account. Because we will go through each of these points with PSD proposals, which may or may not, as in many cases during this period, be accepted. All these things will matter in the analysis we have started," said the PSD leader, specifying that the deadline is linked to presenting the budget project at the end of January.
Grindeanu confirmed that the budget will not be adopted this year: "The parliamentary session also ends in a week. We will probably discuss the budget at the end of January."
Message to the Prime Minister: "Is this blackmail?"
Asked if PSD is blackmailing the government partners through this budget pressure, Grindeanu rejected the accusations.
"Why blackmail, because I want the minimum wage law to be respected? Because I want national and local investments to continue in the budget? Is this blackmail? Because I don't want salaries to be cut for doctors and teachers?" Grindeanu questioned.
On other sensitive topics, such as the turnover tax, the PSD leader mentioned that the party is awaiting a clear analysis from the Ministry of Finance before making a decision.
PSD does not vote on the no-confidence motion and does not exclude continuing governance without USR
Regarding the no-confidence motion filed by the opposition, Grindeanu was categorical: "Obviously, we will not vote on the no-confidence motion; we are still partners in the coalition."
However, he did not rule out the possibility of PSD continuing governance without USR, emphasizing that for the party, the "finished product" of government policies matters.
"Whether it's about Bolojan, PSD, or UDMR, it matters very little. We care about the finished product. We will say what we support, why our proposals are not taken into account, and colleagues will decide," Grindeanu pointed out.
Failure at the Capital City Mayor election: "Our technical message was weaker"
Sorin Grindeanu extensively explained the reasons why the PSD candidate, Daniel Băluță, finished only in third place in the Bucharest Mayor elections with 20.5% of the votes. The Social Democratic leader believes that PSD made a mistake in communication strategy, relying on a strictly administrative message, while the opponents intensely politicized the campaign.
"Our discourse was apolitical, administrative. Ciprian said 'vote for me because otherwise extremism wins.' Anca Alexandrescu said 'vote for me because if I win, Bolojan goes home.' Coming with a technical discourse, our message was weaker," specified the PSD leader.
Grindeanu defended Băluță, whom he considers "a very good candidate," but with an insufficiently strong message.
"We had a very good candidate, but who, not having a strong and political message, led us to the current situation," Grindeanu emphasized.
However, Grindeanu also sees a positive aspect in the obtained score: "This result - 20-21% - represents a good starting point for the Bucharest organization, a political score that gives us hope for reconstruction."
Neither confirms nor denies a government with AUR
Sorin Grindeanu avoided commenting on possible government formulas after a potential exit from the coalition, including the PSD-AUR option: "I don't want to speculate; I have no way of knowing what will happen in a month."
He stressed that the final decision "will not be made by Grindeanu or the National Standing Bureau, but we will make it following an analysis with the 5,000 Social Democrats."