The coalition collapsed: Marcel Ciolacu resigns as Prime Minister

The scandal that broke out between the members of the governing coalition after Crin Antonescu did not receive the number of votes needed to enter the final of the presidential elections was also felt at the meetings that the liberal and social-democratic leaders had within the political formations to which they belong. Thus, if the liberals decided that the PNL would support the independent candidate Nicuşor Dan in the second round, the PSD leaders stated that the social-democratic voters must decide for themselves who to vote for on May 18 and seemed more concerned about the squabbles between them regarding the attitude that some prominent members had both in the presidential elections of November 2024 annulled by the Constitutional Court, and in the first round of the presidential elections that took place on May 4, 2025. Unlike the PSD, the UDMR decided to support Nicuşor Dan in the second round alongside the PNL.

Meanwhile, accusations were thrown from one camp to another at the PSD headquarters, from Buzău to Olt, Ilfov and Teleorman and vice versa, regarding the way in which the county leaders of the Social Democrats handled the mobilization to vote on May 4, 2025.

The mayor of Buzău, Constantin Toma, stated that in the fall the order to cede some votes to George Simion came from the PSD secretary general, Paul Stănescu, and he expressed surprise that in the elections last Sunday, in Teleorman county - which is controlled by the Social Democrats, George Simion won the elections over the candidate of the governing coalition, Crin Antonescu.

After a previous discussion with the other leaders of the governing coalition, PSD President Marcel Ciolacu went to the meeting with his party colleagues with a single proposal: breaking up the governing coalition and resigning from the position of Prime Minister, with a new Government to be formed after the presidential elections. Moreover, there were voices within PSD that stated that Marcel Ciolacu would resign from the position of party president, but the names circulated as interim replacements - Victor Negrescu and Olguţa Vasilescu - declined such an offer.

Following the tense debate at PSD headquarters, the social democratic leaders decided to leave the government, and Prime Minister Ciolacu to resign. An interim Prime Minister will be appointed, and the current Cabinet will continue to function until the new President is elected and takes office, and until the new Government passes the vote of Parliament.

After the meeting, Marcel Ciolacu declared: "I saw the Romanians' vote and this means that the current governing coalition has no legitimacy in this regard. This coalition is no longer legitimate until it sends its own candidate to the second round. I proposed to my colleagues to leave the government and it was approved by my colleagues. I decided that the PSD ministers would remain in the interim government until the new Cabinet is formed. In any case, I saw that the future president would change me, no matter who he was. I also listened to the voice of the media and the voice of the Romanians on Sunday and I believe that the future president will decide, together with the parties in Parliament, who will govern and who will be prime minister."

Marcel Ciolacu also stated that as long as he remains the PSD president, he rules out a PSD-AUR government.

After Marcel Ciolacu submits the resignation of interim president Ilie Bolojan, the latter appoints the interim prime minister, and the interim government will operate for the next 45 days with fewer powers than the full government, meaning that it cannot approve emergency ordinances and cannot make any budget corrections or propose new legislative amendments in the fiscal field, but also in other areas.