A Bucharest park will be named after Donald Trump
Donald Trump won an online poll against Maia Sandu to choose the name for the new extension of Tudor Arghezi Park in Bucharest. The winning name was announced on Monday, May 25, by the mayor of Sector 4, Daniel Băluță, in a Facebook post.
Daniel Băluță announced that, "as the people decided," the new section of the park will be named "Donald Trump," while the ice rink at Berceni Arena will be named after hockey player Doru Tureanu.
"In the coming days, we will also take the necessary steps to implement your decision," wrote Băluță, noting that over 116,000 people participated in the survey.
The option to name the park after "Donald Trump" received over 28,000 votes. In the comments on the mayor's post, several users expressed concerns that the results were influenced by bots, to the disadvantage of the "Maia Sandu" option, which had been leading just a few days earlier.
One commenter wrote, "The haters who can't stand Maia Sandu voted."
Another user said, "Do we really have to change the name of Tudor Arghezi Park? This is so stupid! Why Donald?"
The poll initiated by Daniel Băluță garnered comments from politicians. Paul Ene, a councillor from the Save Romania Union, said that the voting platform was "a joke in itself, as was its security."
He noted on Facebook, "By Saturday evening, under 30,000 votes had been registered, but by Sunday morning, that number had surged to 70,000." Ene suggested that the mayor should retain the current names of the park and the ice rink and consider taking a leave of absence.
The Mayor of Sector 4, Daniel Băluță, announced in early April that the new park would be named after Donald Trump as a symbol of the friendship and shared values between Romania and the United States, coinciding with the year that marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in the US. In response to public criticism, it was decided that the park's name would be determined through an online poll.
