Romania’s ruling coalition affirms but delays appointment of candidate for Bucharest City Hall

After prolonged negotiations on April 15, the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Liberal Party (PNL) dropped the idea of changing their strategy for the mayoral elections in Bucharest but deferred for a week the appointment of their joint candidate Catalin Cirstoiu, G4media.ro reported.

The option of pulling out Catalin Cirstoiu for his weak scores recorded in polls and the recent scandal related to his multiple activities and wealth was reportedly discussed.

One alternative discussed was supporting Cristian Popescu Piedone – the main challenger of incumbent mayor Nicusor Dan. But both parties opted against such an option, although each of them would prefer him over incumbent mayor Nicusor Dan.

The ruling coalition PSD-PNL will thus make the final decision on whether or not to maintain its candidate Catalin Cirstoiu based on the odds of Cristian Popescu Piedone rather than on the electoral score of their candidate Cirstoiu. Namely, if Nicusor Dan is seen as the winning candidate one week from now, the ruling coalition is likely to find last-minute alternatives that would implicitly give a boost to Piedone.

The elections for Bucharest municipality are important because they open a dense electoral year, and the mayoral seat in the capital has always been an indicator for further political developments. In this case, Nicusor Dan winning another term would improve the odds of the United Right Alliance formed by reformist USR with its partners.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea)