Mircea Geoana was re-elected head of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the main opposition group in Romania, in a party poll organized at the Extraordinary Congress of the party on Sunday. Geoana received 977 votes of 1400 delegates at the event, while the second candidate, Sorin Oprescu, received 385 votes.

A third candidate, Antonie Iorgovan, had withdrawn from the race and said he would cede his votes to Oprescu.

Geoana had been considered the imminent winner of the PSD poll.

The Congress on Sunday also decided a new secretary general of the party. Titus Corlatean outpaced incumbent secretary Miron Mitrea with over 680 votes against 604.

Geoana told the media in the wake of the vote that the competition was real and said his rival Oprescu was a valuable politician that he party needed. And he said he regretted Miron Mitrea’s loss as the former secretary general, who had previously served as Transport Minister in the 2001-2004 PSD government, provided a real support for the party.

For his part, Mitrea did not hide his disappointement as he said “I didn’t expect it [to lose]… I have nothing to recommend to Corlatean and I’m not interested to head the Bucharest branch of the PSD”.

And Sorin Oprescu, who prior to the vote had said he would withdraw from the PSD unless elected head of the group, said he would not withdraw his words without further comment.