Marcel Ciolacu resigns as PSD leader after election results
After the announcement of the partial results in the Romanian presidential elections, Marcel Ciolacu announced that he had resigned from the leadership of the PSD (Social Democratic Party).
He also congratulated Elena Lasconi for successfully reaching the second round of the presidential race.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate those who, according to the Romanian people's vote, qualified for the second round. I also wrote to Mrs. Lasconi, called her, and congratulated her!" said Marcel Ciolacu on Monday afternoon. The PSD leader confirmed that his party would not contest the election results.
"PSD will not challenge the results, even though the difference is very small. Last night, I handed my resignation to the general secretary. Today, at 5:00 PM, I have convened the National Political Council, and after the meeting, we will announce the decision," said Ciolacu. He further stated that, after the parliamentary elections, internal elections would be held within the PSD, and he would not run for any position in the party.
According to partial results, Marcel Ciolacu garnered 19.15% of the votes, with a very narrow gap between him and Elena Lasconi.
At the same time, another former presidential candidate, Nicolae Ciucă, leader of the PNL (National Liberal Party), is expected to resign from the PNL leadership, along with the entire political bureau. After all votes were counted, Nicolae Ciucă finished in 5th place in the presidential elections, with 8.79%.
Independent candidate Mircea Geoană stated that the election results were surprising and that he would retire from politics. "I think it's time to hang up your boots in active politics at a certain moment... Everything I have done until now is more than enough," he said.
Călin Georgescu, who received the most votes, has not made any statements so far. Doru Costea, Georgescu's personal adviser, stated on Monday to Antena 3 CNN that Georgescu would not make any statements today and preferred to wait for the final results.
It should be noted that the final results have not yet been validated by the Central Electoral Bureau.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
