On 5 May, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation and invited his party to withdraw from the government. He cited the result of the first round of the presidential election as the reason.
“The governing coalition was formed in December with two objectives: to have a stable government, a majority in parliament and a common candidate for the Romanian presidency. We failed in one of these objectives. We saw the Romanian vote yesterday. This means that the power coalition has no legitimacy,” Ciolacu said.
The first round of the presidential election was held in the country on 4 May. George Simion, a far-right nationalist and chairman of the Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR), won the most votes (about 41 per cent).
He will face Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, an independent centrist with 20.98% of the vote, in a run-off election on 18 May. The ruling coalition candidate, Crin Antonescu, came in third.
Following Ciolacu’s resignation, his government ministers will serve for 45 days and the acting president will appoint an interim prime minister from among the ministers.