If the referendum on the dismissal of Dorin Chirtoaca from the post of mayor general of Chisinau municipality on November 19 fails, the suspended mayor will return to the City Hall. As this was removed from the list of participants in the referendum, he is actually protected, Ion Ceban, chairman of the Socialist group on the Chisinau Municipal Council, stated in the public debate “Anti-Chirtoaca referendum: to take part or to boycott it, where and why should we put a tick?” that was the 79th installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture by public debates” organized by IPN News Agency.
Ion Ceban said there should be efficient administration in the city, not struggles against Putin, Trump, tanks etc. as the sidewalks are not destroyed by these. If the people like and want to walk further on damaged sidewalks and to be told to give bribe when they go to the City Hall after certificates, they can boycott the referendum, but the decision makers with huge powers didn’t manage the city efficiently and committed numerous irregularities and should be held accountable. There are no and should be no political arguments as to the administration of the city and his earlier speeches definitely didn’t contain such arguments, if only arguments about the management.
Referring to the social pro-referendum arguments, Ion Ceban enumerated the proposals submitted by the Socialists to the CMC, such as the assistance for persons with visual impairments, purchase of hearing aids, social eateries, provision of cold-month allowances, exemptions from paying for public utilities, differentiated tariffs for waste collection, etc. The Socialist accused Ion Cebanu, chairman of the Liberal group on the CMC, of not presenting any initiative in the Council and of doing nothing to facilitate the building of kindergartens and schools during ten years, a part of which were yet destroyed. He also accused the Liberal councilors of Chisinau of spending millions of lei on building 3 km of road, which is twice more than the costs of a good road in Germany, and of not adjusting this to all the norms.
“Another social argument is that these steal as much as they can. They spent 9 million lei to build 5 km of road. No report contains information about these repair works as there are no priorities, no urban development plan and no zonal plans. They already erected blocks and tomorrow will legalize them in accordance with the local urban development plan. But this should be done before constructing the building and obtaining an authorization. Why? Because the money goes to their pockets first,” stated Ion Ceban.
According to the Socialist, the law on the status of Chisinau municipality gives royal powers to the mayor, while the councilors only approve or reject the municipal budget. The councilors cannot suggest strategies. This should be normally done by the executive, which is headed by the mayor general. Dorin Chirtoaca is responsible for everything that is happening in Chisinau municipality.
The public debate “Anti-Chirtoaca referendum: to take part or to boycott it, where and why should we put a tick?” was the 79th installment of the series of debates “Developing political culture by public debates” that are staged with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
