[ad_1]
The re-election by a large majority of the mayor of Deveselu, Ion Aliman, who died of COVID in the middle of the electoral campaign, reached the international press. CNN reports on the reason why Aliman was voted and on the pilgrimage to the cemetery that took place in the commune after the vote count.
A video posted on social media showed dozens of residents visiting the grave of PSD candidate Ion Aliman, where they lit candles after Sunday’s vote.
“It is your victory. Know that you will be proud of us. Rest in peace,” says a man.
Aliman won the third term as mayor of Deveselu, a village of about 3,000 people in southern Romania, with 64% of the vote, according to the Electoral Office.
“He was a real mayor for us. He sided with the people, obeyed all the laws. I don’t think we’ll ever see a mayor like him again,” said one woman.
Aliman, a former naval officer who turned 57 on Monday, died on September 17 at a Bucharest hospital. His name was already on the ballot papers and could not be removed, authorities said. Under these conditions, new elections will be organized, reports CNN, which takes over a Reuters story.
The publication says it is not the first such case in Romania and reports that people from a village in the east of the country voted, in 2008, for a candidate who died on election day. This is the commune of Voinești, in the county of Iași.
Despite Aliman’s victory, PSD lost key cities and county councils on Sunday to the PNL, which it leads with a minority government, and USR-Plus, an alliance of two center-right groups, CNN reports.
Editing: Monica Bonea
