Monday 16 June 2008

The quick and the deadly

According to Reuters in 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, 57, 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.

Heaven forfend that anyone would keep on asking for a vote to be re run until the correct result was achieved.

In the meantime with additional British troops being sent to Afghanistan and the hardening of the stance being taken on Iran I would suggest that the name of Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston be added to the list of candidates for the forthcoming by election in Haltemprice and Howden.

If we're going to pursue an interventionist strategy we may as well get someone decent to plan it. I think his Lordship may, even now, be able to do a better job than several current administrations that I can think of.

(Oh and I can't get the rather attractive picture of Mr. Ivascu I found to upload. Will try again as an update later....)

9 comments:

Liz Hinds said...

It reminds me of the film ?? where voters were given the option 'None of the Above' and went for it.

BenefitScroungingScum said...

Perhaps we should bring back the monster raving loony party-they'd probably seem the most sensible of the lot! BG

RobW said...

I often dream of how we might get rid of the current lot. And voting for dead people sounds like a very good idea.

CherryPie said...

We would probably get more sensible policies out of dead people ;-)

Crushed said...

It happened in the UK a couple of times- the most noted being Edward Legge, elected MP for Portsmouth in 1782 having died in the West Indies three months previously.

Letters From A Tory said...

I'm sure most people would consider a dead person to be a more effective PM than Brown at the moment.

Moggs Tigerpaw said...

All this prejudice against dead people is simply terrible.

They are constantly being depicted as shambling flesh eating types in the movies.

I suspect Benjamin Disraeli could hardly do a worse job than the current PM, at least he was once elected ;-)

Out of the two Dizzy gets my vote.

jams o donnell said...

Great story wasn't it? It happens from time to time... In 2000 when he was Sentaor for Missouri, John Aschroft was beaten by a corpse too. Perhaps a lack of pulse should be a prerequisite for standing for parliament!

Colin Campbell said...

It is so gratifying to slam politicians.