Changes on the Romanian political scene
The main parties in Romania, PSD and PNL, have interim leaderships after their leaders grabbed subpar results in the first round of the presidential election
Ştefan Stoica, 26.11.2024, 14:00
On June 9, the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), the biggest political parties and coalition partners, won the European parliamentary election by a landslide, after fielding candidates on a single list. Then, in the local election, both parties fared honorably, with the Social-Democrats securing most of the town halls and county councils. Nothing foretold the electoral disaster sustained by the PSD and PNL candidates in the first round of the presidential election. The Liberal and Social-Democrat presidential candidates have tied their names to two historic failures: the leader of PNL, Nicolae Ciucă, ranked fifth with less than 9%, thus becoming the first Liberal candidate not to obtain a two-digit score, while the leader of PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, seen as favorite to win the first round, came only third, with 19%, becoming the first left-wing candidate not to advance to the presidential runoff. Both owned up to their failure and resigned from the leadership of their parties.
On December 1, in-between the two rounds of the presidential election, the parliamentary election is scheduled, and the main parties must quickly recover from the electoral shock. PSD seeks to regain the trust of Romanians in the parliamentary election and will come up with a new approach for communicating with citizens, said the vice-president of the party and the European Parliament, Victor Negrescu, appointed to deal with political communication until the parliamentary election. A strong representation of Social-Democratic values is needed in the future Parliament, Victor Negrescu said, arguing that PSD will intensify its efforts to better explain their governing program to the Romanian people. “We have good results in terms of governance and, in this respect, we will also come up with a new approach in the way we communicate with citizens, more directly, more openly, we will them what we are able and want to do in a very direct and honest approach”, Negrescu added.
The entire leadership of the Liberal Party resigned, and Ilie Bolojan was appointed interim president. Bolojan is known for his good administrative and economic results in Bihor County (northwest) and in the municipality of Oradea. Ilie Bolojan announced that PNL will support Romania’s pro-European direction and center-right policies, which is why in the second round the party will unequivocally support Elena Lasconi, the leader of the Save Romania Union. We recall that, in the presidential runoff slated for December 8, Elena Lasconi will face the surprising winner of the first round, Călin Georgescu, a figure unanimously considered toxic and dangerous due to his extremist and pro-Russian views. Over the coming period, Bolojan pointed out, the Liberals will present the public policies that PNL will support in Parliament: state efficiency and waste reduction, public policies that allow the development of local communities through decentralization and support programs addressing local officials, policies that support the rule of law, an independent justice system and policies related to equity, meritocracy and rules that generate fair behaviors at society level. (VP)
