Moldovan PM-designate says local administration reform difficult, can no longer be avoided

Local government reform is difficult, but can no longer be avoided. Depopulation and an aging population have reduced the capacity of many mayoralties to employ specialists, prepare projects and manage services. Under these conditions, the ongoing amalgamation process will be continued and improved where possible, and the intended outcome is that more money will go to local services and investments. The position was expressed by the designated Prime Minister, Vasile Tofan, who today presented in parliament the activity programme of the future government.

“The reform of local public administration is difficult, but it can no longer be avoided. Depopulation and aging have reduced the capacity of many mayoralties  to employ specialists, prepare projects and manage services. Keeping a mayoralty formally, but leaving the community without an engineer, architect, social worker, water system and investment capacity does not mean functional local autonomy,” the designated prime minister said.

Vasile Tofan noted that he had supported a more ambitious version of the reform, but the limited time does not allow changing the rules at this moment.

“I have publicly supported a more ambitious option – 40 strong mayoralties and the elimination of the district level. I know that some of you in this chamber, including in the opposition, share this vision. But today is July 21, ten days before an important deadline for amalgamation and with local elections next year. To overturn the entire process now and change the rules at the eleventh hour would be irresponsible. It would be madness. I did not come to this position to prove that I am right at any cost. I came to deliver results, and I must work with the reality we have,” the official said.

Under these conditions, Vasile Tofan stressed that the ongoing amalgamation process would be continued and improved.

“We will continue the ongoing amalgamation process, we will improve it where it is still possible, and we will thoroughly prepare the reform of the district level. The expected outcome is not a nicer organizational chart. The outcome is that more money reaches local services and investments, and not administrative structures that no longer correspond to reality,” Vasile Tofan concluded.

According to the latest information presented by the authorities, 773 mayoralties in Moldova have officially launched voluntary amalgamation procedures, in an effort to reconfigure and strengthen local public administration. A number of 112 localities of them have already chosen to merge their administrative structures around 24 district centers.

The voluntary amalgamation process will end on July 31, and subsequently, starting in August, the government will launch the normative amalgamation process, as recently announced by Secretary General of the Government, Alexei Buzu. In the voluntary stage, localities can decide for themselves with whom they merge, how they organize their administration and what their priorities are, while the government supports communities with development incentives.