The deputies of the Alternativa faction, members of the Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova, will support the reform of local public administration, but insist that it be implemented correctly and provide clear answers regarding the autonomy and financial sustainability of local communities. The statement belongs to deputy Liliana Iaconi and was made during the public debate “APL Reform and European integration: mandatory condition or political myth?”, organized by the IPN Press Agency.
Deputy Liliana Iaconi explained that she supports the need for LPA reform, but believes that its success depends on how it will be developed and implemented by the Government. “We have always said that we agree with this reform and that we will support it. But we will only support it if it is correctly implemented and includes both the administrative and financial aspects. We will support the reform, but first we need to see the project that the Government is going to present,” explained the deputy of the Alternative faction.
Liliana Iaconi emphasized that the future project of the reform must provide clear answers regarding the maintenance of local autonomy and the ability of the new administrations to self-finance, without depending on allocations from the state budget.
“The reform project must answer the question: what will happen to local autonomy? What will happen to the newly-formed local public administration’s ability to generate its own revenue to sustain itself from these revenues, to not depend on transfers from the state budget. We still do not have clarity on how local budgets will be intervened upon,” the deputy specified.
Additionally, Liliana Iaconi drew attention to the voluntary amalgamation process of localities, which she considers a well-intentioned initiative, but which would take place non-transparently. “Voluntary amalgamation is a new process for the Republic of Moldova. We believe it is a noble intention, but the reality is different. We have signals from the field that the amalgamation is taking place with many uncertainties,” Liliana Iaconi further stated.
Disclaimer: This material has been prepared by the IPN Press Agency, within the project “Local Public Administration Reform in Dialogue”, funded by the Ministry of Culture from the Media Subsidy Fund.
