Moldova’s CALM Calls for Four-Year Delay to Local Government Merger

CALM insists on a postponement of the statutory amalgamation

The Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) is calling for the statutory amalgamation to be postponed for four years and for the dialogue on administrative-territorial reform to be resumed.

Viorel Furdui

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The organisation’s members voiced their demands during an extended meeting of the CALM Administrative Council, attended by Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Vladimir Boli, Secretary-General of the Government Alexei Buza, as well as over 150 mayors and representatives of local public administration from all regions of the country.

Following the meeting, a declaration was adopted in which local authorities expressed their concern regarding the methods used to advance the administrative-territorial reform.

Participants reaffirmed their support for the process of modernising governance, whilst emphasising that reforms on such a scale must be carried out with full respect for the principles of local autonomy and institutional dialogue.

Lack of analysis of the reform’s impact on communities

The mayors believe that the current reform process is hampered by a lack of genuine dialogue with local authorities, insufficient consultation and a lack of research into its impact on communities and local democracy.

One of CALM’s main demands is to postpone the merger of regulatory bodies for at least four years. During this period, it will be possible to assess the results of voluntary mergers, analyse them and identify ways to resolve any problems that have arisen.

At the same time, CALM insists on the publication of impact assessments and the criteria used in drawing up the new administrative-territorial map, as well as the establishment of clear mechanisms for consulting local communities before final decisions are taken.

Guarantees for local communities

Local authority representatives are demanding that every settlement, even after the reform, should have a representative body elected directly by citizens, with clearly defined powers and a budget guaranteed by law.

CALM also calls for the establishment of clear rules governing the representation of localities on future local councils, including a guarantee that all communities will be involved in decisions that directly affect them. It also calls for the introduction of exceptions to the general rule for localities with a special status and for the lifting of the ban on local referendums on amalgamation processes.

This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.

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