Romanian Social Democrats seek presidential candidate, including outside the party

The executive president of Romania’s senior ruling party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Paul Stănescu said on June 5 that he did not exclude the option of supporting a presidential candidate from outside the party. However, this will be decided at the party’s national congress, after sociological studies, he added, according to local Mediafax.

The party has been undergoing internal turmoil after its leader Liviu Dragnea was given a three year and a half prison sentence and went to jail. Meanwhile, PSD’s junior partner, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), has not managed to meet the 5% threshold in the elections for the European Parliament, a serious blow to its leader Calin Popescu Tariceanu’s plans to run in the presidential elections as a candidate of the PSD-ALDE coalition.

Stanescu stated that PSD has always been more than its leader. “On Friday, the executive leadership of the party will meet and we will decide what to do with those within the party who want to run [for president], but [will also consider] other personalities outside the party if they want to join us; we will carry sociological studies to see who is best placed [in terms of voters’ support]. The person who will run for the party may be from the party, it may be from outside as well, but this will be decided at the congress,” Paul Stanescu said at Antena 3.

(Photo source: Psd.ro)