Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), declared on Wednesday evening on the private television station Romania TV that at the congress he proposes that the leadership of the party include young people who were confirmed in the local elections, but he also wants to strengthen the professional side of the formation by attracting professionals who have confirmed in the fields in which they operate.

Marcel Ciolacu reminded that his mandate and that of his colleagues in the PSD leadership expires on August 22, „and it is normal, on August 24 we will have a congress. I tell you with certainty, I will run for the position of president of the Social Democratic Party,” Ciolacu said.

„If I decide to run for office (for the presidency of Romania, ed. n.) and if I receive the vote of my colleagues, my friends and my comrades, then I will also undertake this,” declared Ciolacu.

Asked if, under such conditions regarding the organization of the congress, and considering that, over time, the PSD candidate in the presidential elections was the head of the party and if he will be the first exception, he said: „Anything is possible. No, no I have not a reservation. You know, I’m not a coward”.

Regarding a possible return to the PSD of Mircea Geoana, the NATO deputy secretary general at the end of his term, and his candidacy for the presidency from the social democrats, he said: „He did not express his desire. You know that the first thing, you have to express yourself, to want. Mr. Geoana was the party chairman”.

In the same context, Ciolacu did not rule out having a discussion with Geoana on the topic of presidential candidacy, when asked in this regard.

AGERPRES