Village re-elects dead mayor
2008-06-17 10:32
Bucharest - The residents of a
Romanian village knowingly voted in a dead man as their mayor
in Sunday's municipal election, preferring him to his living
opponent.
Neculai Ivascu, who ran the village for almost two
decades, died from liver disease just after voting began - but
still won the election by a margin of 23 votes.
A local official said the authorities decided to keep the
poll open in case Ivascu's opponent, Gheorghe Dobrescu, won,
avoiding the need for a re-run.
"I know he died, but I don't want change," a pro-Ivascu
villager told Romanian television.
In the end, election authorities gave the post to the
runner-up, but some villagers and Ivascu's party, the powerful
opposition Social Democrat Party (PSD), have called for a new
vote.
- Reuters