Concept of local public administration reform to be presented in late February–early March

The concept of local public administration reform will be presented in late February–early March. Subsequently, all the technical aspects of the reform will be finalized, and the draft legislation to be presented to Parliament this autumn session. Secretary General of the Government Alexei Buzu made the statements, noting that the purpose of this reform is to accelerate the development of localities.

“We are currently in the period in which we are conducting preliminary consultations. We want to have this exchange of views on a fundamental and significant change. In late February, early March, we will publish the reform concept with more details, after which, in June–July, we will finalize all technical aspects, so that we can come to Parliament in the autumn session with the entire legislative package, which also covers issues related to territorial‑administrative re‑dimensioning, financing of local public administration, and amending the Electoral Code,” said Buzu.

The Secretary General of the Government stressed that the reform initiated is a complicated one, but very necessary.

“The reform of local public administration is not only about drawing a new administrative map, it is also about the competences and structure of mayor’s offices—what they are supposed to do, including districts. So it is a much more complex reform and effort than just administrative‑territorial re‑dimensioning,” he explained.

According to the official, the central objective of the reform is to accelerate the development of localities and to bring services closer to citizens.

“What we want to do is precisely to accelerate the pace of development, and we must understand that the investments we have already made need to be maintained. Our citizens have higher expectations, they expect faster and deeper changes, and that is why we will try to do this. It is a complicated reform; it is no coincidence that until now no one has taken responsibility for this reform. But I believe there is consensus that the situation requires it and that the reform is necessary,” the official stated.

Alexei Buzu noted that there are currently over 300 mayor’s offices involved, at various stages, in the process of voluntary amalgamation. In this regard, the official said that the authorities will initiate a draft law aimed at simplifying the amalgamation process and providing new incentives for localities that choose to undergo this procedure.

In addition to the voluntary amalgamation process, there will also be normative amalgamation, which will be mandatory for those mayor’s offices that serve a certain population size. The exact threshold to be used will be determined through the ongoing consultations.

Alexei Buzu underlined that normative amalgamation is necessary, given that statistical data confirm that 60% of mayor’s offices in the Republic of Moldova manage local affairs for a population of fewer than 1,500 citizens. “We do not believe that, in the long term, such mayor’s offices will be able to manage services, projects and programs at the level of expectations of the citizens in those communities,” he specified.

“The way a mayor’s office is organized today, in 2026, when a new version of an artificial intelligence model appears once every three months, was created more than 25 years ago—a model based on the provision of administrative services and not on a local development model,” he said.

The Secretary General of the Government explained that after the reform is carried out, there will be a service delivery center and a representative of the mayor in every locality.

“In all mayor’s offices that will be amalgamated, the names of the villages will not change; traditions and identity will not change. The changes will concern only the administrative domain. We will expand the network of unified service delivery centers, where all public services will be provided. Thus, there will be no risk of citizens becoming more distant from public services; they will come to the town hall building and will be able to benefit both from town hall services and from the services of the National Social Insurance House (CNAS), the cadastral service, civil status services, and any other services,” he stated.

Alexei Buzu also referred to the fate of the districts. “In my view, in a post‑2027 reality, we will certainly have fewer districts, but they will have a much clearer mandate,” he said.

Alexei Buzu rejected claims that the main goal of this reform is to save money.

“The goal of this reform is to accelerate the development of our communities and regions. We need strong mayor’s offices for developed localities and better services for people. That is the goal. We have always put citizens’ interests first, and that is what we are doing with this reform as well,” Buzu concluded.

In late January, the Government officially announced the launch of the process of preparing the local public administration reform, as part of efforts to modernize the administration and improve the quality of public services provided to the population.