Romanian premier resigns after his coalition's candidate fails to advance in presidential runoff

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation on Monday, a day after the governing coalition's joint candidate failed to advance to the runoff in the closely watched rerun of the presidential election.

The coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu, was third in Sunday's first round, far behind top finisher hard-right nationalist George Simion and pro-Western reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.

“Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself,” the prime minister told reporters after a meeting at the headquarters of his Social Democratic Party, or PSD.

Sunday’s rerun underscored strong anti-establishment sentiment among Romanians and signaled a power shift away from traditional mainstream parties. It also renewed the political turmoil that has gripped the European Union and NATO member country.

The rerun took place months after a top court annulled the previous race following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied. The unprecedented decision plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

The prime minister had said one aim of forming the coalition last December — after the failed election — was to field a common candidate to win the presidency. After Sunday's vote, he said, the coalition now "lacks any credibility." It is made up of the leftist PSD, the center-right National Liberal Party, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities.

Ciolacu said his party would not officially support either candidate in the final presidential vote on May 18. “Every PSD supporter will vote as they wish, according to their own conscience,” he said.

An interim prime minister will be selected from the current Cabinet of ministers and appointed by interim President Ilie Bolojan, who noted Ciolacu's resignation and is expected to make an appointment on Tuesday.

Sunday’s vote was the second time in Romania’s post-communist history, including the voided election cycle, that the PSD party did not have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race.

As in many EU countries, anti-establishment sentiment is running high in Romania, fueled by high inflation, a large budget deficit and a sluggish economy. Observers say the malaise has bolstered support for nationalist and far-right figures like Calin Georgescu, who won the first round in the canceled presidential election. He is under investigation and barred from the rerun.

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says Ciolacu may have resigned to give his party “negotiation options” for a future coalition after the runoff.

“The decision can defuse some anti-coalition sentiment before the presidential runoff,” he said, but added that any negotiations to form a new Cabinet would "increase the sentiment that the older political parties are struggling to keep control of power.”

Simion, the 38-year-old frontrunner in Sunday's vote and the leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, will face Dan in a runoff that could reshape the country's geopolitical direction.

In 2019, Simion founded the AUR party, which rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election by proclaiming to stand for “family, nation, faith, and freedom." It has since become Romania’s second-largest party in the legislature.

Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party in 2016, ran on a pro-EU ticket. He told the media early Monday that “a difficult second round lies ahead, against an isolationist candidate.”