Radu Ștefan Mazăre

Radu Ștefan Mazăre is a Romanian ex-politician. His political activity began with his election to the lower house of the Parliament on the Democratic Party (PD) list, which he left in 1997 to serve as an independent. In 2000, he defeated all party-supported contestants to be elected mayor of Constanța, one of Romania's largest cities and its foremost seaport. Joining the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in 2003, he went on to win the following three elections with a comfortable majority. In 2015, during his fourth term, Mazăre resigned amid accusations of corruption, citing the unbearable stress caused by what he claimed to be politically motivated investigations. In 2017, he fled while under bail to Madagascar, claiming the right of asylum, but he was extradited back to Romania on 20 May 2019 to serve a 9-year sentence in prison. His brother, Alexandru Mazăre, also served as an MP.