Experts expressed contradictory opinions about the Balti Municipal Council’s decision to hold a referendum on extended local autonomy in the municipality in the talk show “Fabrika” on Publika TV channel, IPN reports.

Historian Anatol Petrenko considers this decision is an illegal one and has an undertone of separatism. “The autonomy is used by some to promote own interests. The question itself reveals separatist tendencies. The measure is not welcome in the current situation, when there is a separatist war in Ukraine, while our country was affected by the stealing of millions of lei from the banking system and we are also close to the local elections. This plebiscite should be excluded. The residents of Balti do not live worse than the people from other settlements of Moldova. I would like the Moldovan authorities to sit down at the negotiating table and to agree on the budget allocations for Balti municipality,” he stated.

Constitutional law expert Vitalie Gamurari believes the initiative to hold a referendum in Balti is a consequence of the excessive centralization. “If the local public authorities had enjoyed greater autonomy, this unpleasant situation wouldn’t have been witnessed,” he said.

Politician Valentin Krylov thinks the decision of the Balti Municipal Council is a justified one. “It is about a consultative, not decision-making referendum. The goal is only to obtain extended local autonomy. The formulated questions show that it is not a separatist initiative. The municipality of Balti has its history and its lawful rights. It must be able to manage its own funds in its interests,” he stated.

On May 26, the Balti Municipal Council decided to hold a consultative referendum on local autonomy on November 1. The initiative was put forward by the Communist faction of the Council, which invoked the non-implementation by the central authorities of the Law No. 608 of 2012 and of the Government Decision concerning measures to improve the critical situation in Balti municipality, adopted in 2012.