Local public administration reform in Moldova consulted with mayors, members of Center for European Local Administration

The consultations on local public administration reform today continued at the government, during a meeting between Secretary General of the Government Alexei Buzu and a group of mayors who are members of the Center for European Local Administration (CALE).

The discussions focused on the need to provide mayoralties with tools to become strong administrations, the stages of preparing the reform and its objectives, including how to ensure better and more accessible services for citizens.

"The mayoralty will turn from a service delivery center into a community hub for driving local development. We will digitize services and the one-stop shop will become the rule, not the exception, so that we can interact with citizens as efficiently as possible," underlined Secretary General of the Government Alexei Buzu.

At the same time, strengthening mayoralties and settlements will give them the opportunity to benefit from more resources for development, to implement projects that improve life in communities. "We want to have strong local administrations, in order to increase the absorption capacity of funds and to have teams with the necessary specialists who can manage projects," the secretary general of the government noted.

An important topic of discussion was the process of voluntary amalgamation, which will continue to be encouraged by increasing financial incentives, simplifying procedures, providing guidance throughout the entire process, and informing citizens about the benefits.

Mayors from already amalgamated localities emphasized that this decision now allowed them to implement more important projects for citizens, and they expressed their willingness to share their experience to streamline the process: "We see ourselves in all the steps that have been announced and we want to lend a hand. We want to have more tools and resources to develop. We will get involved primarily in the information process, especially in municipalities that want to start the process without waiting any longer."

Issues discussed also included the minimum number of citizens required for eligibility for amalgamation, the formation of local public authorities’ budgets and enhancing the competencies of mayoralty’s staff.

Broad consultations on the reform in January–February will continue with mayors, experts, representatives of district and local authorities, as well as civil society. After these consultations, the reform concept will be presented in March, and during the spring extensive discussions with citizens will be held. Subsequently, a legislative package will be drafted, in order to be submitted to parliament in next  autumn.

All proposals regarding public administration reform can be sent to primariiputernice@gov.md.