The governing coalition that met on Wednesday at Victoria Palace has set the date for the presidential elections.
The first round of voting is scheduled for May 4, and the second round for May 18, as announced by the PNL in a statement.
Thus, the elections will take place two weeks after Easter.
"In the first meeting of the Coalition this year, the political parties agreed that the first round of the presidential elections will take place on May 4, and the second round on May 18.
The decision takes into account the need for the first round of elections to coincide with partial elections in certain counties (elections for mayors in 13 communes, for the Mayor of Buşteni, the Mayor of Zalău, and the Bihor County Council) and the necessity for the election dates not to overlap with Easter and Palm Sunday.
"Next week, the Government will issue the emergency ordinance and government decision necessary to implement the Coalition's decisions," the statement reads.
Crin Antonescu remains the coalition's candidate for the presidential elections, as announced by the PNL.
Additionally, it was decided that by January 27, the state budget would be presented at the Coalition's meeting so that in the first week of February, it would be adopted by the Romanian Parliament.
Subsequently, the leader of PNL Iaşi, Alexandru Muraru, stated that during the day, phone discussions took place between Crin Antonescu and Ilie Bolojan, Marcel Ciolacu, and Kelemen Hunor. He specified that PNL, by the end of January, and PSD most likely at the beginning of February, will validate his candidacy through their statutory bodies.
"Today, phone discussions took place between Mr. Clin Antonescu and, on one side, Mr. Bolojan, the President of the National Liberal Party, and Mr. Marcel Ciolacu, the President of the PSD, as well as with Mr. Kelemen Hunor, the President of the UDMR," Muraru said on the Romania Politică show on Prima News.
He added that there were individual discussions between Crin Antonescu and the leaders of other political parties. "I understand that there were no additional issues to discuss, and Mr. Antonescu and the others needed these clarifications that came, and the coalition meeting, you saw that it lasted relatively shortly, it lasted an hour and a half, not a meeting of hours on end, where people argue," he pointed out.
Alexandru Muraru further stated that when asked if Crin Antonescu was consulted regarding the election date, he requested only one thing, for the elections to be organized as quickly as possible, for the calendar to be transparently presented by the government in the immediate future, and for the political parties to establish the dates for validating his candidacy through internal procedures.
Antonescu had announced the suspension of his candidacy
On Saturday, Crin Antonescu announced the "suspension" of his candidacy for the presidential elections and accused the PSD, PNL, and UDMR of leaving him alone in the campaign.
He justified his decision by stating that, first, the official date of the elections had not been set yet, and second, there was no unanimous vote from the coalition members.
On Sunday, the leader of the PSD, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, offered an initial reaction after Crin Antonescu announced the suspension of his candidacy for the presidential elections.
, "I have not spoken with Mr. Antonescu. Most likely, I will speak on January 8, when we have the coalition, and we will see what needs to be done. It is important to focus on Romania's pro-European path," the Prime Minister said on Digi24.
In turn, the leader of PNL, Ilie Bolojan, assured that the liberal Crin Antonescu is still, from the perspective of the National Liberal Party, the coalition's candidate for the 2025 presidential elections.
Bolojan stated that Antonescu is right when he says that the electoral calendar must be expedited, adding that legislation must be amended to allow an independent candidate to have representatives not only in the Central Electoral Bureau but also in the polling stations.
The leader of UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, declared that the liberal Crin Antonescu is correct and that the election date must be set as soon as possible.
According to the law, at least 75 days before the voting day, the Government establishes the election date through a decision. The decision regarding the election date is adopted upon the proposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Permanent Electoral Authority.