The Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) expresses its concern about the delay in promulgating Law No.2474, which allows the local public authorities of the first and second levels to change the purpose of land and enables access to the Constitutional Court when the principles of local self-government are violated. The CALM members consider that forces hostile to reforms can block the implementation of this law by manipulating the Presidential Office.
In a news conference at IPN, representatives of the Congress said the law was passed by Parliament three weeks ago, but it hasn’t been yet promulgated though other laws are published in several days. These noted that they possess information according to which a group of people who pursue personal interests presses the President not to promulgate this law.
CALM president Tatiana Badan said the law is important for the local public authorities as it allows decentralizing and strengthening local self-government. Some of the persons want the local public authorities to be further controlled and thus prevent the promulgation of this law.
Mayor of Cimislia Gheorghe Raileanu said the adoption of this law was a step towards decentralization and its delay is a signal that someone changed their minds about its implementation. The law will bring a number of benefits to the local public authorities and will enable them to revitalize local economy. ”This law can strengthen the own incomes of the local public authorities and will make the whole process more transparent. We now do not know where the money earned as a result of changing the purpose of land goes. It is a law that will prevent corruption and will diminish bureaucracy,” he stated, noting that the central authorities probably do not want to concede all the financial instruments to the local authorities.
Mayor of Straseni Valentina Casian said that their town failed to implement a number of projects because the local authorities cannot change the purpose of land. “When a sports complex was to be erected in Straseni and the purpose of a plot was to be changed, the Government took a relevant decision during over a year. Surely we lost the investor in the period,” she stated.
Mayor of Vinogradovca village of Taraclia district Tatiana Turcan stated that for the same reason her village missed an important project that was to be launched in partnership with a business entity. If the law is not promulgated by the Head of State and is returned to Parliament, the whole process will be a failure.
The members of the CALM Executive Bureau called on the Speaker of Parliament to finish all the procedures related to the preparation of the given law for being submitted to the President for promulgation. They warned that if the law is not promulgated in the nearest future, they will notify international organizations and will mount large protests.
