The extraordinary meeting of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC), convened by the councilors of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) for December 26, did not take place due to absence of a quorum. Only 15 local elected officials out of the 26 needed for the meeting to be deliberative were present in the hall, IPN reports.

PAS councilor Zinaida Popa accused the councilors of other parties of not being interested in creating a comfortable city for the residents of Chisinau. According to her, the agenda includes the constitution of groups and specialized commissions. In this connection, Zinaida Popa announced that her mates chose her to head the PAS group the CMC.

“The municipal budget is what is actually important for the residents of Chisinau as the municipal budget is that business card or document that shows us what we will do in 2024. As far as we can see, Ion Ceban and his party do not want to assume a budget,” stated Zinaida Popa. She requested that next year’s draft municipal budget should be published and subject to public debates or the PAS will come up with an alternative budget.

Referring to the CMC meeting, Chisinau mayor general Ion Ceban, in the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services, said it is regrettable that the PAS starts its work on the Council in an unconstructive and unproductive way. “There is a procedure for convening the Chisinau Municipal Council, which the PAS councilors, or at least some of them, must know and apply,” he stated.

The mayor noted that he explained to the mates from the PAS the objective reasons that do not allow to immediately convoke the CMC. After several elected councilors renounced their seats, a part of the vacated seats were assigned to substitute candidates only on Friday. All seats are to be validated and the CMC meeting can be then convened.

Under the legal provisions, the CMC has an ordinary session every three months, which is called by the mayor general. The Council can also hold extraordinary meetings whenever necessary, at the request of the mayor or of at least one-third of the elected councilors.

There are 51 councilors on the Chisinau Municipal Council. After the November elections, the National Alternative Movement Party and the Party of Action and Solidarity obtained by 20 seats of councilor. The Party of Socialists has six seats on the CMC, the Party of Communists – two seats, while the Revival Party, the Dignity and Truth Platform Party and Our Party – by one seat.