Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila speaks during the main ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD)'s extraordinary congress in Bucharest, Romania, on June 29, 2019. Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila was elected chair of the main ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) on Saturday, at the party's extraordinary congress. (Xinhua/Gabriel Petrescu)
BUCHAREST, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila was elected chair of the main ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) on Saturday, at the party's extraordinary congress.
With 2,828 votes garnered, Dancila won the party's top position, surpassing her three other opponents -- Liviu Plesoianu with 715 votes, Serban Nicolae with375 votes and Ecaterina Andronescu with 50 votes.
Meanwhile, Eugen Teodorovici, incumbent minister of public finance, was elected executive chair and Mihai Fifor, chair of the PSD National Council and former defense minister who resigned from the cabinet last November to concentrate on party internal affairs, was elected secretary general.
Dancila thanked all delegates to the extraordinary Congress after the elections, saying that through their votes she became the first woman chair in the history of the party.
"I am convinced that together we will lead our party to victory, I am convinced that together we will make the best decisions both for the members of our party and for the Romanians," she told the 4,000 delegates presented at the congress.
"I know it's not a easy way, I know it's going to be complicated, I know I'm just starting the fights, but I know there's a lot of people around us, you are the one who loves this party, there are millions of Romanians who believe in us, there are many people whose hope is linked to PSD," Dancila added.
Dancila, 56, became a member of the Social Democratic Party in 1996. She had been a MP from the PSD in the European Parliament since 2009, until becoming the first female prime minister in Romanian history in early 2018. Before entering politics Dancila was an engineer of a well-known local oil company.
The Social Democratic Party fell into an unprecedented crisis when then party leader Liviu Dragnea was definitively sentenced to jail on May 27. Dancila, as executive chair, took over the leadership of the party and the party soon announced to convene an extraordinary Congress to elect a new leadership.
