Buzu Mayor quits PSD leadership over party direction
Buzău Mayor Constantin Toma resigns from all leadership roles in Romania’s ruling PSD, citing irreconcilable differences with the party’s direction.
Constantin Toma, the mayor of Buzău and a prominent figure in Romania’s Social Democratic Party (PSD), announced his resignation on Tuesday from his positions as president of the PSD’s municipal organization and first vice-president of the county branch. In a statement, Toma declared he no longer identifies with the party’s trajectory, though he remains a member to avoid losing his mayoral mandate under Romanian law, which ties elected officials to their party affiliation .
Toma clarified that he would have left the PSD entirely if not for the legal risk to his position, quipping, *“Let them leave, and maybe I’ll stay”* . His departure follows months of public disagreements with the party, according to local PSD leader Romeo Lungu, who called the move *“predictable”* .
PSD national leadership offered a muted response. Party chairman Marcel Ciolacu dismissed the resignation with a terse *“I don’t know how, I don’t know why, and I don’t care”* . The reaction underscores growing internal fractures within the PSD, which has governed Romania in coalition since 2021 but faces mounting criticism over governance and alleged corruption.
Toma’s exit comes as the PSD consolidates its alliance with the far-right AUR party, securing control of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in a parliamentary vote on Tuesday. The PSD-AUR coalition backed each other’s candidates, with PSD nominee set to take the ICR presidency and AUR securing a vice-presidential role . The opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) refused to support the candidates, with Senate leader Daniel Fenechiu denouncing the *“great love affair between social democrats and AUR”* .
Toma’s resignation highlights the PSD’s struggle to reconcile its traditional base with its new alliance with AUR, a partnership that has alienated moderates and drawn sharp rebukes from opposition parties. The mayor’s decision to retain his party membership—while abandoning its leadership—reflects the broader tension between loyalty and dissent within Romania’s dominant political force.
- digi24
- el confidencial
- adevarul

:format(jpg)/f.elconfidencial.com%2Foriginal%2Ff8a%2F019%2F0a9%2Ff8a0190a914b0d23d29a19c3265fef9a.jpg)