Organized every five years, the presidential elections are usually held in December, but this year, the governing coalition made up of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL) announced the decision to hold them in September. Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, also the president of PSD<\/em><\/strong>, has insisted on numerous occasions that the presidential elections would be held in early autumn (September 15 \u2013 the first round, September 29 \u2013 the second), more recently this past weekend, when he said the party he leads would hold a congress to elect the presidential candidate in early July.\u00a0He also said he would not run for president in December.<\/p>\n When asked if PSD has other options for a presidential candidate \u2013 the party president is usually the presidential candidate \u2013 he said \u201cthere are always options; the important things is that my colleagues and I make the right decision,\u201d Digi24<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n He also insisted that PSD needs to have its own candidate for the presidential elections, something the PNL<\/em><\/strong> leader Nicolae Ciuc\u0103<\/em><\/strong> agreed on. \u201cAt this point, both parties need to have their own candidate because we are talking about the most representative state position, we are talking about the person receiving the highest vote of confidence from the Romanian citizens, and, as much as we would like to talk about this coalition and the benefits of stable government, there are hardcore voters on both side, who would certainly not vote for a common candidate,\u201d Ciuc\u0103 said, as reported by Digi24.<\/p>\n Ciuc\u0103, who over the past weeks has been building the profile of the party\u2019s pick for the presidency<\/a>, explained that PNL would hold a national council after the local elections, where the party would not only analyze the results but also establish the next steps and a strategy for the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n One name that frequently popped up on the list of potential presidential candidates is that of Mircea Geoan\u0103<\/em><\/strong>, who currently serves as NATO deputy secretary general. Geoan\u0103, who was the president of PSD from April 2005 to February 2010, has been polling high<\/a> in voters\u2019 preferences for this year\u2019s presidential elections. He has said that a potential announcement concerning his entering the race would be made \u201cat the right time\u201d and that any decision depends on the \u201cdomestic political calendar.\u201d If he decides to run, it would be his second time after the 2009 presidential election which he lost to Traian B\u0103sescu.<\/p>\n In an interview with Antena 3<\/a>, Geoan\u0103 explained he would not run on behalf of PSD, and argued this is the year of the independents, something seen in the local and EU Parliament elections. \u201cI am not interested in contributing to the limited game of some political forces attempting to extend the current regime under a new form,\u201d he said.\u00a0Meanwhile, Marcel Ciolacu said that the option of having Geoan\u0103 as the PSD candidate had not been yet discussed in the party, and he hadn\u2019t spoken to Geoan\u0103 in years. He also said Geoan\u0103 was not an outsider since he used to be the party\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n Before resigning from the job of president of the main opposition party, Save Romania Union (USR<\/em><\/strong>), C\u0103t\u0103lin Drul\u0103 had declared himself ready to take on the challenge of being his party\u2019s candidate. Now, USR needs to elect a president from a list of ten candidates, including activist Radu Hossu and former TV anchor Elena Lasconi<\/em>, who was recently reelected for a second term as mayor of C\u00e2mpulung with close to 70% of the votes. In an interview with Digi24<\/a>, Lasconi said she was up to the challenge of running for president if she has the party\u2019s support and argued Romanian voters are ready to elect a woman as president. In his resignation speech, Drul\u0103 had pointed to the reelected Timi\u0219oara mayor Dominic Fritz as a potential candidate for the party president position, but Fritz did not enter\u00a0the race despite showing initial interest in it. He also touted the idea of having distinct people as party leader and presidential candidate, but acknowledged this had little support inside USR.<\/p>\n While the other parties are still considering their options, George Simion<\/em><\/strong>, the leader of the far-right AUR<\/em><\/strong> (Alliance for the Union of Romanians), has officially launched his bid for president in an event organized at Bucharest\u2019s Arenele Romane on June 15. The leader of AUR, which is sending six representatives to the European Parliament, has said the party would not support von der Leyen as president of the European Commission, G4media<\/a> reported. He also said AUR would not enter an alliance with PSD or PNL and urged his colleagues to vote only \u201cwhat is in the best interest of Romanians.\u201d<\/p>\n