Romanian Prime Minister resigns

Bucharest. Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, a Social Democrat, resigned yesterday, May 5, following the elimination of his party's candidate in the first round of the presidential election. He was defeated by far-right candidate George Simion with 40.9% of the vote and centrist mayor of Bucharest Nicusor Dan with 20.9%.

"I proposed to my colleagues that we leave the governing coalition, which implicitly leads to my resignation as prime minister," Ciolacu told reporters after a party meeting in Bucharest.

"We saw how Romanians voted yesterday, May 5, which means that the governing coalition has no legitimacy, at least not in its current form," explained Crin Antonescu, the candidate supported by the coalition, after the elimination.

"The future president would have replaced me anyway," Ciolacu added.

Still, the party's ministers could remain in office, as interim ministers, until a new government is formed after the runoff election, scheduled for May 18, he said.

The Social Democrats did not call for a vote against the far right, but Ciolacu ruled out allying himself with the far-right Simion to form a new government.

"As long as I am president of the PSD (Social Democratic Party), there will be no PSD-AUR government," Simion's party declared, the pro-European leader.

Following the December legislative elections, Marcel Ciolacu, 57, remained at the head of the government following an agreement designed as a bulwark against the rise of the far right and with the idea of ​​presenting a single candidate in the presidential elections.

Romania has been mired in a political crisis since the victory of far-right candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential election held in November, which was ultimately annulled.

However, weeks later, the Constitutional Court invalidated that first round and excluded the sixty-year-old, whom his detractors accuse of being pro-Kremlin, from Sunday's elections after a massive campaign on the TikTok platform marred by suspicions of Russian interference.

Suspicions never confirmed.

“Worst moment”

For political scientist Radu Magdin, Marcel Ciolacu made his decision at the "worst possible moment," with a highly fragmented Parliament, which would allow the nationalist camp to "take advantage of the current political chaos."

"Any combination will be possible" after the second round, the expert emphasized. Simion has already mentioned the possibility of appointing Calin Georgescu as prime minister.

Romania isn't the only country experiencing these kinds of problems. In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany party has been subjected to a health siege by the European government.