Romania’s ruling coalition fails to appoint joint candidate for Bucharest City Hall

Update: Prime minister and Social Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu confirmed Tuesday morning that Catalin Cirstoiu is no longer running for the Bucharest mayor seat. Instead, former mayor Gabriela Firea will join the race as PSD’s candidate.

“The decision for PSD and PNL to have their own candidates for the Capital City Hall was difficult. but it’s the correct solution for the citizens of Bucharest […]. Bucharest needs a person who knows administration and is able to arrange from day one the things left behind by Nicusor Dan. And this could only be Gabriela Firea, the president of the PSD Bucharest organization,” Ciolacu said on Facebook.

Initial story: After a 13-hour debate on April 22/23, the two parties of Romania’s ruling coalition abandoned their preliminary joint candidate for the key local elections in Bucharest, Catalin Cirstoiu, skipped joint plan B and plan C announced by the Liberals (PNL) at the end of last week, and decided to appoint individual candidates for the Bucharest mayor position, Digi24 reported.

Social Democratic Party’s former mayor Gabriela Firea and Liberal Party’s energy minister Sebastian Burduja will not run criticizing each other but come up with constructive solutions for the urban development of Romania’s capital city, the ruling coalition reportedly decided.

According to Digi24, it was the Social Democratic Party (PSD) that proposed to withdraw political support for Catalin Cirstoiu. There is no information about a possible replacement of Cirstoiu, but given the sluggish process of appointing a joint candidate, it is not likely that the ruling coalition had a plan B.

PSD’s candidate Gabriela Firea will probably perform better compared to Catalin Cirstoiu, but she might also deteriorate the score of Cristian Popescu Piedone – a quasi-independent candidate still seen as associated with the Social Democrats. This would overall help incumbent mayor Nicusor Dan win a second term.

In addition, the split between the ruling coalition’s partners, which still run on joint lists for the City Council, may also help Nicusor Dan negotiate a majority formed by the reformist USR and Liberal councilors.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)