{"id":7398,"date":"2025-10-24T09:03:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=7398"},"modified":"2025-10-24T09:03:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:03:00","slug":"romanian-ruling-parties-prepare-to-announce-candidates-for-bucharest-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=7398","title":{"rendered":"Romanian ruling parties prepare to announce candidates for Bucharest mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Romania\u2019s main ruling parties, the Social Democrats (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), and the reformist Save Romania Union (USR), are readying to put forward the official candidates for the local elections in Bucharest set on December 7<\/a>. While PNL could choose District 6 mayor Ciprian Ciucu for the general mayor race, PSD is yet to announce a candidate, and USR’s\u00a0C\u0103t\u0103lin Drul\u0103 said he would run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The seat of Bucharest general mayor was left vacant after Nicusor Dan became president of Romania in May. However, the local elections have been a point of dispute in the ruling coalition in the last weeks, as the Social Democrats maneuvered to block a possible common candidate between center-right governing partners PNL and USR. Tensions eased, however, as the three parties agreed to each field a candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the elections will be a stress test for the ruling coalition, as candidates will have to compete despite their parties being allied in government.<\/p>\n

Prime minister and president of the National Liberal Party, Ilie Bolojan, announced that the mayor of District 6, Ciprian Ciucu, will be designated as the Liberals\u2019 candidate. The candidacy will be officially announced next week, according to Ilie Bolojan.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout two months ago, we conducted an opinion poll. Three colleagues were tested. The best-ranked was Mr. Ciprian Ciucu, the mayor of District 6, who will most likely be designated as the PNL candidate for the General City Hall of the capital. He was the best placed among our candidates,\u201d Bolojan said, according to Digi24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of who wins the City Hall, they will not have an easy life in the coming years,\u201d the prime minister said, citing issues related to the district heating system as well as the division of budgets between the General City Hall and the districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interim leader of the Social Democratic Party, Sorin Grindeanu, said that his party will also designate a candidate next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI aim for us to win the Bucharest City Hall, because right now we have three very good district mayors: Daniel B\u0103lu\u021b\u0103, Rare\u0219 Hopinc\u0103, and Robert Negoi\u021b\u0103. We also have [former Bucharest mayor] Gabriela Firea,\u201d Grindeanu said, hinting at possible candidates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will probably hold a National Executive Bureau meeting at the beginning of next week, where we will decide on the candidate,\u201d Grindeanu said, cited by Agerpres<\/a>. He also emphasized that the future PSD candidate for the Bucharest City Hall will have administrative experience and a campaign focused on projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Daniel B\u0103lu\u021b\u0103, one of the leading PSD candidates, and Ciprian Ciucu have strong backing in Bucharest. In the 2024 local elections, Ciprian Ciucu won 73% of the votes expressed in District 6. Daniel B\u0103lu\u021b\u0103, in turn, won 60% of the votes in District 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The situation is clearer for USR, which rallied around former party leader and transportation minister C\u0103t\u0103lin Drul\u0103. The center-right party, founded by Nicu\u0219or Dan before he became an independent, is reportedly counting on the president\u2019s support for Drul\u0103. In recent statements, president Dan noted he has a \u201cstrong preference\u201d for a candidate “able to manage large infrastructure works.”<\/p>\n

The far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) has not yet announced a candidate. However, the so-called sovereignist bloc is already well represented by journalist Anca Alexandrescu, who confirmed she is “99% running.” Alexandrescu promoted pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu, then AUR leader George Simion, during the 2024-2025 presidential elections.<\/p>\n

A recent poll<\/a> regarding the elections shows District 4 mayor Daniel B\u0103lu\u021b\u0103 leading with 25% of voting intentions, followed by C\u0103t\u0103lin Drul\u0103 of the Save Romania Union (USR) and District 6 mayor Ciprian Ciucu of the National Liberal Party (PNL), both tied at 18%. Independent candidate Anca Alexandrescu is credited with 10%, while Cristian Popescu Piedone of PNRR garners 9%. The winner will be decided after a single round of voting.<\/p>\n

radu@romania-insider.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

(Photo source: Inquam Photos \/\u00a0Alberto\u00a0Gro\u015fescu<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romania\u2019s main ruling parties, the Social Democrats (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), and the reformist Save Romania Union (USR), are readying to put forward the official candidates for the local elections in Bucharest set on December 7. While PNL could choose District 6 mayor Ciprian Ciucu for the general mayor race, PSD is yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7398\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}