Bucharest, (EFE). – Romania’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation on Monday after nationalist George Simion won the first round of the presidential election with 40% of the vote.
“This coalition is no longer legitimate,” Ciolacu told reporters after a meeting between the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which governs in coalition with the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), and the Democratic Union of Hungarians of Romania (UDMR).
“The next president was going to replace me anyway, that’s what I read,” he added.
The current governing coalition was formed after the December parliamentary elections, after the Supreme Court annulled the November 2024 presidential elections due to Russian interference, ordering a rerun of the electoral process, celebrated on Sunday.
According to the Prime Minister, the two main goals of the tripartite alliance that came to power were to form a government with a PSD Prime Minister and to bolster a unique presidential candidate, which they did not achieve.
On Sunday, Crin Antonescu, the t candidate of the PSD, PNL, and UDMR, came in third and was thus eliminated from the second round of voting called for May 18.
Antonescu lost by less than one percentage point to the independent pro-European Nicusor Dan, the current mayor of Bucharest, who is now Simion’s only rival.
The presidency in Romania is in charge of foreign and defense policy, among others, which is why this election is key.
Romania is part of NATO’s southeastern flank, hosting a considerable contingent of soldiers, playing a key role in regional stability and security in the area. EFE
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