Crin Antonescu to be only presidential candidate to be polled by PSD

Crin Antonescu will be the only candidate in the presidential election who will be included in the Social Democratic Party (PSD – ruling party) polls, the party's spokesman, Lucian Romacanu, said on Monday.He announced that a schedule was discussed at a meeting of the party's National Political Council (CPN)."On Thursday, the government decision for the schedule of elections - May 4 and 18 - will be issued, as established. The poll will be conducted next. After January 20, there will be a new CPN meeting to formalise the candidacy of Mr Antonescu and set a date for the convention of the PSD congress. We want to have a convention for the nomination of the candidate after January 20, probably January 26-27. Certainly, Mr Crin Antonescu will be the only included in the presidential polls," Romascanu said at the end of the PSD CPN meeting.   The PSD (S&D) is part of the ruling coalition alongside the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the UDMR, the political party representing ethnic Hungarians. Both the PNL and the UDMR are members of the European People's Party (EPP), and the coalition enjoys support in parliament and from the group of minorities.   The PSD's first leadership meeting in 2025 ended without an official endorsement of the coalition-backed candidate. Instead, the party decided to conduct further opinion polls to gauge public confidence in Crin Antonescu, a former liberal leader who was announced as the coalition's candidate in December 2024.   Antonescu's candidacy was validated by the National Political Bureau of the Liberal Party (PNL) on Monday. The National Council will vote on 26 January to formalise his presidential bid.   In the first round of the presidential election on 24 November, which was annulled by the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu suffered a crushing defeat, becoming the first Social Democratic candidate in history not to make it to the second round.   Although Ciolacu initially promised to resign if he did poorly, he later reversed his decision, saying he understood the Romanian electorate's verdict. He then set up a TikTok account in an attempt to replicate some of the platform success of pro-Russian independent candidate Calin Georgescu. So far, however, Ciolacu's efforts have raised only a few smiles.   Ciolacu's candidacy is not favoured by some social democratic leaders and liberals. In addition, the PSD does not want Ilie Bolojan, the new PNL leader, to run, as he is seen as a less compromising politician. As a result, the coalition agreed at its meeting on 9 January that the joint candidate would not be a party leader.   “It was very clearly established that the candidate cannot be one of the presidents of the two parties (PSD or PNL),” social democrat MEP Mihai Tudose said after that meeting.   The PSD won the parliamentary elections on 1 December despite its weakest result in history (22%). The decision not to field its own presidential candidate for the first time poses a complex challenge for the party.   Traditionally, the PSD has relied on its network of mayors, especially in rural areas, to mobilise its supporters to vote. But in the first round of the presidential election, the mayors did not mobilise for Ciolacu, a leader with limited popularity even within his own party. Without its own candidate, the PSD fears that the mayors will be even less motivated to rally support for Crin Antonescu.   Antonescu's candidacy has also failed to inspire enthusiasm even among liberals. He has been inactive in politics since 2014 when he stepped down as PNL leader to make way for Klaus Iohannis. Antonescu himself has admitted that he has been unemployed for the past eight years, relying on his “wife’s income (Adina Valean, former EU transport commissioner) and modest personal savings.”   The coalition has also struggled to unite behind a single candidate in the past, failing to agree on a joint candidate for the 2024 Bucharest mayoral elections.   Antonescu's candidacy will depend on the results of the polls. So far, only one poll has been conducted, commissioned by Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan, who has announced his own candidacy as an independent. Dan presented partial data showing that Calin Georgescu has over 40% (compared to 23% on 24 November), while he and Crin Antonescu have between 15% and 25%. (Photo:https://www.facebook.com/)