Romania appoints interim PM after coalition's defeat in presidential race

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania's interim president appointed a new prime minister on Tuesday, a day after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition's candidate to make the runoff in a rerun of the presidential election.

Ilie Bolojan signed a decree to appoint the serving interior minister, Catalin Predoiu of the National Liberal Party, to helm the government until a new one can be formed. The interim post can be held for a maximum of 45 days, during which they have limited executive powers.

The shake-up comes after the coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu, came third in Sunday's first round presidential vote, far behind top finisher hard-right nationalist George Simion and pro-Western reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.

After casting his ballot on Sunday, the 56-year-old veteran politician Predoiu said he voted for a presidency that ''will ensure balance, cooperation and dialogue in political life'' and called it an ''important moment for the whole country.''

Romania held the rerun months after a top court annulled the previous race following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied. The unprecedented decision plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

Sunday's vote underscored strong anti-establishment sentiment among voters and signaled a power shift away from traditional mainstream parties. It also renewed the political uncertainty that has gripped the European Union and NATO member country.

Ciolacu, who came third in last year's voided presidential race, told reporters Monday outside the headquarters of his Social Democratic Party, or PSD, ''Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself.''

He added that one aim of forming the coalition last December — after the failed election — was to field a common candidate to win the presidency. After Sunday's result, he said the coalition now ''lacks any credibility.'' It is made up of the leftist PSD, the center-right National Liberal Party, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities.

Sunday's vote was the second time in Romania's post-communist history, including the voided election cycle, that the PSD party did not have a candidate in the second round of a presidential race.

As in many EU countries, anti-establishment sentiment is running high in Romania, fueled by high inflation, a large budget deficit and a sluggish economy. Observers say the malaise has bolstered support for nationalist and far-right figures like Calin Georgescu, who won the first round in the canceled presidential election. He is under investigation and barred from the rerun.

Simion, the 38-year-old frontrunner in Sunday's vote and the leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, will face Dan in a runoff on May 18 that could reshape the country's geopolitical direction.

In 2019, Simion founded the AUR party, which rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election by proclaiming to stand for ''family, nation, faith and freedom.'' It has since become Romania's second-largest party in the legislature.

Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former anti-corruption activist who founded the Save Romania Union party in 2016, ran on a pro-EU platform. He told the media early Monday that ''a difficult second round lies ahead, against an isolationist candidate.''