The reform of local public administration is already delayed, and the way the authorities initiated this process leaves much to be desired. The statement belongs to the constitutional law expert, Alexandru Arsenie, and was made during the public debate “APL Reform: What legislative changes are essential for its successful implementation?”, organized by the IPN Press Agency. According to the expert, even two years ago a concept of administrative-territorial reorganization was presented to the country’s leadership, which envisaged the unification of several districts, but the initiative remained unanswered.

The expert reminded that the proposal for the reorganization of the second level of local public administration is not a new one, and that the central authorities have had enough time to analyze the concept.

“The Constitution stipulates that the districts represent second-level local public administrations, with the purpose of implementing laws uniformly. Two years ago, the Association of Independence Parliament Deputies presented to the country’s president, the Parliament’s president, and the Government a project to unify four to five districts into a single entity. But two years have passed and we have no response,” explained the constitutional law expert.

In his opinion, the administrative-territorial reform should include reducing the number of districts by merging them, without affecting the functioning of the essential state institutions in the territory.

“If we talk about the level of districts, there is the possibility and even the necessity of unifying five districts into a single one and maintaining the police, the prosecutor’s office, and the judicial bodies in that district. The district should be led by the district council together with the president. In this case, the state will function in the name of the people and for the people. I am no longer talking about the financial expenses for maintaining the administrative apparatus of the districts, expenses that are not justified,” Alexandru Arsenie further stated.

At the same time, the expert believes that the authorities have unjustifiably delayed the launch of the reform and criticizes the way the process is currently managed. “The reform is already delayed. It should have been started earlier. But for the way it was started now, the authorities deserve a grade of 2,” pointed out Alexandru Arsenie.

Disclaimer: This material was prepared by the IPN Press Agency, within the project “Local Public Administration Reform in Dialogue”, funded by the Ministry of Culture from the Media Subsidy Fund.

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