Marcel Ciolacu Returns as Prime Minister of Romania
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Bucharest, Dec 23 (NationPress) - Romanian President Klaus Iohannis declared on Monday that he has officially reinstated Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and serving Prime Minister, to steer the nation's new administration, according to media sources.
On December 20, Romania's freshly elected Parliament assembled following the elections held on December 1.
On November 25, Marcel Ciolacu, as the chairman of PSD, declared his resignation after not making it to the Presidential runoff, finishing third in the first round with 19.15 percent of the votes.
Ciolacu continued as Prime Minister until the elections were completed and a new parliamentary majority was established. He stated that he would not seek any role in future PSD leadership contests.
On August 24, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu was re-elected as the chairman of the country's Social Democratic Party (PSD) and affirmed as the party's candidate for the forthcoming Presidential elections.
This decision was reached during the PSD Congress, where 2,257 of the 2,380 delegates present supported Ciolacu's candidacy.
The congress also saw the election of other significant members of the party's leadership. PSD remains the principal member of the ruling coalition and the largest political entity in Romania.
According to the Romanian Constitution, a maximum of two Presidential terms is allowed, making incumbent President Klaus Iohannis, who was first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2019, ineligible for re-election. His second and final term will end in December of this year.
Marcel Ciolacu served as Romania's Prime Minister in June 2023 and was the president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2021 to 2023. He also campaigned for President in the 2024 elections but did not progress past the first round, obtaining 19.15 percent of the votes.
On November 26, 2019, following the significant defeat of the new PSD leader Viorica Dancila in the 2019 Romanian Presidential election, Ciolacu was appointed leader of the party, initially on an interim basis until officially confirmed by the party congress the following year on August 22, 2020, with a resounding 1310–91 majority against his opponent. Ciolacu successfully led the party to victory in the 2020 Romanian legislative election but was unable to form a majority coalition in the new legislature. Other parties opposing the PSD formed a new coalition on December 23, resulting in Ciolacu's PSD entering the opposition.
Nonetheless, in 2021, after the political turmoil that led to the downfall of the Cîțu Cabinet, he successfully restored the PSD to governance, creating a Cabinet with its former adversary, the National Liberal Party, thus establishing the National Coalition for Romania.
