Dumitru Sechelariu, a former mayor of Bacau, died of medical complications on Saturday at the AKH clinic in Vienna where he had been transferred from Bucharest at his family’s wish a week ago. The former mayor checked into the Floreasca Hospital on Feb 2, transferred from the “Prof. Dr. Nicolae Oblu” Emergency Hospital Iasi, where he was admitted in late January with a severe spinal disc hernia which made him unable to move. Sechelariu underwent imagistic examinations and laboratory tests aimed at stabilizing his condition and allowing a therapy plan. He underwent surgery on Feb 5, his post-surgical evolution being favorable. Dumitru Sechelariu was a controversial businessman and politician. An alleged local Social Democratic Party baron, his name was closely linked to that of the city of Bacau, of which he was mayor was a mayor during 1996-2004, and the FCM Bacau FC, which he ran from 1992 to 2007.PSD Spokesman Catalin Ivan told Mediafax that Social-Democrats bemoan his death and conveyed condolences to his family. PSD Honorary President Ion Iliescu, with whom Sechelariu was in conflict before he left the party, expressed regret over the former mayor’s death. “I knew he was in bad shape and was away. I‘m very sorry that he died. A man left us whose lively presence was appreciated by citizens and marked these past years,” Mediafax quoted Iliescu as saying.
