PSD President Sorin Grindeanu declared Wednesday in an interview with G4Media that he will propose an internal vote in the PSD so that the party can decide if it wants to remain in the coalition with Ilie Bolojan as prime minister or if it wants another prime minister from the PNL. Also, the internal PSD vote will show whether the party wants to remain in the coalition with USR or without USR, Sorin Grindeanu further said in the interview for G4Media.
The announcement by the PSD president comes just 8 months after the creation of the PSD-PNL-USR-UDMR governing coalition, with Ilie Bolojan as prime minister, and a few days before the prime minister presents the 2026 budget project and the pension reform project for the military, police, and intelligence services employees to the coalition.
“I want to propose to my colleagues in the PSD that we expand the internal consultation. A YES/NO question, considering how the coalition is functioning, whether to keep the coalition in this form or in a more restricted form without USR. And if we go forward with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. Because the protocol can remain the same, but with another prime minister provided by the PNL,” Sorin Grindeanu said in the interview for G4Media.
Asked by G4Media reporters if this means calling the coalition agreement into question, Sorin Grindeanu confirmed: “Obviously. Because you cannot remain in government just because when you decided on that coalition and signed that partnership you believed things would go in another direction than what has happened in the last 5 months. I prefer to tell Romanians directly that we were wrong in what we hoped for in June 2025 and this protocol can no longer go forward rather than functioning in a partnership that is creaking badly. I believe things must be discussed transparently. And I said that alongside the budget we will hold informational discussions for party colleagues, so people can take a decision in full knowledge of the facts.”
Asked repeatedly by G4Media reporters what led him to take the decision, Sorin Grindeanu cited disagreements within the coalition, reproaches from militants against USR which “campaigned with the Swedish plate against PSD”(a viral 2018 protest incident where a Romanian expat living in Sweden drove a car with custom-ordered license plates featuring an obscene slogan directed at the PSD party-translator’s note), but also the fact that PSD is the only left-wing party in the coalition. “There were the starting months in which dialogue was missing, even from Package 1. CASS [health contributions] for mothers, for veterans… I need to see the budget and it matters very much that PSD’s proposals are included.”
I am not giving an ultimatum. You haven’t heard me saying that. Every time I said that PSD will perform an internal consultation, just as we did when we entered the government.
Stay on G4Media for the full interview with Sorin Grindeanu
We render below a short fragment from the interview
Dan Tăpălagă: You triggered an internal consultation in the party regarding staying in the government. Have you reached any conclusion?
Sorin Grindeanu: At the beginning of December we had a National Political Bureau where I announced the start of this procedure and I said then that the evaluation period would conclude with the budget, because it is very important. Certainly, beyond the various events that can appear on the public agenda – simple motions, scandals, Mercosur, plus the budget, I gave this deadline so that we can conduct this evaluation alongside the voting or not of the budget, with the presentation of the budget by the Government. I think it’s normal to do this.
I want to add something compared to December. I thought about it and I will propose to my colleagues to do a consultation a bit more expanded than what we did last summer. Last summer, almost 5000 colleagues, all the county political committees, which means all the mayors, county councilors and so on, voted and in a fairly large proportion, in a high percentage, said yes, let’s go in this form in this coalition.
This time I would do a bit more than that. A YES/NO question – considering all these aspects related to the budget, the way the coalition functions, the pulse that the mayors and our local councilors feel very well, if it is to be a YES, if we keep this coalition in this form, meaning PSD, PNL, UDMR, USR together, or in a more restricted form, without USR, for example. And if we move forward with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, because the protocol can very simply remain PSD, PNL, UDMR and with another prime minister provided by the PNL.
Dan Tăpălagă: Help me understand. Are you putting an additional question within this consultation?
Sorin Grindeanu: Yes. If we decide that we aren’t staying (in the coalition – editor’s note), the answer is clear and the nuances with USR, with Bolojan, without USR and so on no longer matter. But if the answer is YES and it is in a large proportion, YES, we remain in government, then in what form? As before, in a more restricted coalition form, or with another leadership at the level of the Government? I want us to do this consultation.
Dan Tăpălagă: Why are you doing this consultation?
Sorin Grindeanu: Because I can’t help but see it, I am the president of the PSD and in this whole period both I and my colleagues, the first vice-presidents, Secretary General Manda, have had public meetings in the territory with the PSD, not just the militants, not just the members, they reproach us. They reproach us for having made this alliance with the USR. We have issues that divide us. They divide us, if you want we can elaborate, but many things divide us. After all, USR made a party with the Swedish plate against the PSD. And I cannot say, I would be lying to say that the relationship between the PSD and Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has been an extraordinarily smooth and constructive one in these months. And then it is absolutely normal to ask my colleagues, those who decided to enter government 10 months ago, if we continue this way.
Dan Tăpălagă: But you have a signed agreement in the coalition and you agreed on a rotation to be done after a year and a half, and what you are doing now is practically calling into question the coalition agreement.
Sorin Grindeanu: Obviously. It is obvious, because you cannot remain in government just because when you decided on that government or that coalition, the formation of that coalition and you signed that partnership, you believed things would go in one direction, let’s say, in another direction than what happened in these months. And that is why I feel this need.
Dan Tăpălagă: What isn’t working, so I can understand, that you reach the point of not respecting your own commitments.
Sorin Grindeanu: But it’s not a matter of respecting them. I prefer to go and tell Romanians correctly that what we believed in June last year when we gave this vote, we were wrong. And fair, direct, transparently we say that this protocol can no longer go forward, rather than functioning in a partnership like this that creaks. And it creaks badly. And then I believe things must be discussed transparently. And I said that alongside the budget, with all the things we will see in the budget, we will have discussions, first to inform party colleagues, so that people take a decision in full knowledge of the facts.
I cannot go and lead and I have no intention of doing so, to lead the PSD just as I want, from the moment that I and a few colleagues in leadership, from the moment we took the decision, thousands of people, those who lead the PSD, let’s say in an expanded form, to enter the government, in the same way, we decide after the budget, if we stay or not and how we stay.
Dan Tăpălagă: What happened that was so grave, Mr. Grindeanu, that you are calling into question both the protocol and the coalition agreement?
Sorin Grindeanu: I think we all made mistakes in this period, even from the beginning, instead of trying to deal much with what governance means, what PNRR means, what ultimately a consolidation of relations inside this not easy coalition means. PSD is in a coalition of right-wing parties. Perhaps this image also appeared in this period where it seems we are alone on various proposals, various measures that we request within the coalition, being after all the only left-wing party. Things are not functioning as they should function within the coalition. There were the starting months in which dialogue was missing, starting even from Package 1.
We overcame them, but you should know we didn’t set them aside: CASS for war veterans, for mothers.
We do the evaluations at the budget, I need to see the budget and it matters very much that the PSD proposals we made and which we want to be included, whether we are talking about budget allocations or fiscal measures, must be directed according to these things.
I am not giving any ultimatum, you haven’t heard me in this period saying that if something doesn’t happen, the PSD leaves the government. Every time I said that the PSD will do an internal consultation, just as we decided in June whether we enter government or not, that’s how we will take the decision if we still stay or not and how we stay in government. This is fair toward all my party colleagues and then it will matter very much. These weeks will matter very much – a week, 10 days until the Government considers it should perhaps send the budget project to Parliament, if the PSD proposals are taken into account or not.
Rep: In how much time will you decide if you stay or not in government with or without Bolojan?
Sorin Grindeanu: I recommended to my colleagues in the coalition not to send the budget, because I don’t want to start the process in Parliament – I am also the President of the Chamber of Deputies – I don’t want the budget sent to Parliament without an agreement in the coalition. That would mean we open the door here to all sorts of amendments that can form ad-hoc majorities on the spot, various proposals, but I don’t want us to skid into this area. So, either there is an agreement in the coalition and it is sent and everyone moves forward, or if there is no agreement, I announce publicly that the PSD will not vote for the budget. (…)
Context: The President of the Social Democratic Party, Sorin Grindeanu, announced on December 9, 2025, immediately after the PSD lost the elections for Bucharest to Ciprian Ciucu (PNL), that he is triggering a period of internal analysis in the party regarding participation in government, finalized with a vote after the Bolojan government presents the budget project. Grindeanu stated then that the party will evaluate in detail how the governing coalition functions, similar to the decision-making process from six months ago. He also stated that PSD wants the government’s policies to take into account the social democrats’ proposals and rejected accusations of political blackmail, arguing that the party is defending its program and the public interest.
Leaders of PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and the national minorities group signed on June 23, 2025, at the Parliament the political agreement for forming the governing coalition for the period 2025-2028, which also includes the application of the rotation regarding the occupation of the prime minister position. According to the agreement, PSD is slated to take over the prime minister position in April 2027. Until then, the position of head of the executive belongs to the PNL, according to the agreement.
“PSD decided to enter this coalition two days ago, following an expanded consultation. Almost 5,000 members voted, over 70%, to be part of this coalition. This means that PSD will be a responsible and honest partner in the coalition, we have many things to do, in this way we understand entering the coalition,” Sorin Grindeanu declared at the time.
Second-tier PSD leaders, like Olguța Vasilescu and Claudiu Manda, have previously called into question the variant of a possible change of the prime minister, however it is the first time Sorin Grindeanu announces that he will officially call into question the presence of Ilie Bolojan at the head of the government and of USR in the governing coalition.
