The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, has assumed full rights as the leader of the Social Democratic Party. The extraordinary congress of the party elected him as president, after Sorin Grindeanu had been acting in the role for more than five months, reports IPN.

Sorin Grindeanu was elected president with the vote of 2,787 party members at the extraordinary Congress, organized on Friday in Bucharest.

At the same time, the PSD members unanimously adopted the changes to the party’s statute, increasing the number of leadership positions in the formation – five first vice-presidents instead of one, and 20 vice-presidents.

At the same time, the Social Democrats renounce the phrase “progressive party” from their statute and have adopted a new doctrine, which provides for “national, religious, traditional” values.

The former president of the PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, resigned in May, after the governing coalition’s presidential candidate, Crin Antonescu, ranked third in the first round of voting. Following Marcel Ciolacu’s resignation, the National Political Council of the PSD appointed Sorin Grindeanu as interim president.

The Social Democratic Party currently holds the most seats in the Romanian Parliament. The party has 37 senators and 86 deputies. Moreover, the PSD is one of the parties that form the current governing coalition of Romania, alongside PNL, USR, UDMR, and the Parliamentary Group of National Minorities.