The citizens’ interests should be in the focus when the mayor and the local council cooperate, the mayor of Nimoreni village Andrei Covali, who heads the Association of Mayors of Ialoveni district, stated in a public debate hosted by IPN.

Andrei Covali noted that opportunist coalitions in councils are not formed so easily, especially because each elected councilor should seek to deliver on the electoral promises made to the citizens who elected them. “We should not forget that each local council consists of representatives of different political parties. Each of them or each political party has a well-defined plan of action with which they campaigned. Each of them was supported by a particular number of voters who put their trust in these and they, being in the council, should make effort to fulfill the promises,” stated Andrei Covali.

The mayor admitted that sometimes the alliances at the local level are influenced by the common political views of representatives of different parties and this is not bad if the people combine their forces for the locality’s benefit. Each councilor in the cooperation with the mayor should act in accordance with the law.

“The mayor is the representative person and the executive person. Respectively, the local council is the deliberative and decision-making body. Debates are often held on draft decisions, primarily when we reach the financing aspect and seek to please everyone. But, as I said earlier, the interests of the ordinary citizen are essential for the mayor and the local council,” stated Andrei Covali.

He noted that in Nimoreni, where the council consists of representatives of many political parties, a majority coalition was already created by a ‘change statement’. He is currently not supported by a majority of councilors who would represent the party of which he forms part, but this does not mean that there are no possibilities for good cooperation between the mayor and the councilors.

“It won’t be easy, but we will anyway focus on projects that can be supported by a majority of councilors, for the development of the locality, for the citizens’ benefit,” said Andrei Covali.

He also said that the political factor is still decisive in district councils and the developments will be clear in the immediate period. If pro-European coalitions are formed, there are chances that the projects launched with the support of the foreign partners will continue and the infrastructure in the Moldovan localities will this way improve, while the mayors and councilors should only lend a hand to this process and should not place obstacles.

The public debate entitled “Local elected officials after elections: Cooperation and competition for public interest” was staged by IPN News Agency in the framework of the project “Stimulation of discussion in the mass media about traditional particularities of local elections and the need for Europeanization” which is supported by Soros Foundation Moldova.