Larisa Volokh
According to PAS deputy Larisa Volokh, vice chairwoman of the Commission for Public Administration and Regional Development, the opinion of the Venice Commission is important, but she believes that in the case of this draft there are no violations of the law. In particular, she noted that the law does not oblige to hold a consultative referendum in the localities to be merged.
“Certainly, the opinions of international organizations, especially those that protect the rights and freedoms of public authorities and citizens, are important. However, in the case of this draft law, we do not see any violation. The references were made in the context of organizing a referendum as part of the consultation. Neither the European Charter of Local Self-Government nor the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova explicitly establishes the obligation to organize a referendum. It is one of the forms of consultations, which can be chosen at the discretion of local public administration authorities. Also, the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova does not directly stipulate the obligation to hold a referendum and only points out the need to consult the population through the local public authorities,” Voloh said at the parliamentary sitting – Voloh said at the parliamentary sitting.
PCRM faction chairwoman Diana Caraman recalled that the appeal to the Venice Commission was not only about the referendum, but also about the reduction of the number of votes needed to change the territory of a settlement.
“According to the European Charter of Local and Regional Self-Government and the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, this is a rather important issue, which should be solved jointly with the population of the locality whose interests are affected. In order not to be accused of violating this or not, the document was sent to the Venice Commission. Why do you refuse to take into account the opinion of the Venice Commission on this issue? After all, it directly concerns both our norms and international law,” Karaman said.
The ruling party deputy replied that it was the local authorities themselves who asked for the process to be simplified:
“Simplification of this procedure was a request from the local public administration authorities, who have already gone through this process and reported that there are many bureaucratic procedures that complicate it. Therefore, given the desire for a simpler and more efficient process, appropriate legal deadlines were set”.
The draft was passed on final reading with 53 PAS votes. It, among other things, allows decisions on the merger of mayoralties to be taken by a simple majority vote of local councillors instead of two-thirds as was the case until now.
