Balti councilors’ decision was adopted with serious violations, State Chancellery

The decision of the Balti Municipal Council to organize a local referendum regarding the expansion of the city’s autonomy was adopted with serious violations of procedure and factual content of law. According to the deputy head of the State Chancellery’s territorial office in Balti, if the councilors don’t cancel the decision, the State Chancellery will challenge it in the Balti Court of Appeals, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The decision must come to effect, must be signed by the Mayor, and in 45 days must be presented at the State Chancellery’s territorial office in Balti, where we’ll analyze it, decide on the lawfulness of this act and then say what’s next. But I can tell you I attended the council meeting and noticed some violations committed during the adoption of this decision”, said Nicolae Oncuta. The first violation is related to procedure, the second to contents. “As regards the violation of procedure, the issue was included as a matter of emergency on the agenda, wasn’t planned and the opposition councilors didn’t know about it. It wasn’t analyzed or brought to the media, nobody knew anything about it. During the discussions, there were several breaks and the other councilors asked about the goal of this proposal. Its proponents however didn’t know what to answer, even the City Hall was unsure. It’s clear this initiative was forced”, said Nicolae Oncuta. According to legal stipulations, the Balti Municipal Council can decide to organize a referendum and the decision must be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission. CEC must analyze the papers and then set the date of the referendum, no later than 45 days since the decision. In Balti, the procedure was obviously violated, the decision was taken rudely and they even set the date of the referendum on September 9, explained the deputy head of the State Chancellery’s office in Balti. The second violation, according to Nicolae Oncuta, is related to the factual content of the decision. “What does autonomy mean? Autonomy is when I take my own decisions and create the conditions I like. But we live in a community and must consider everyone’s interests. Such a decision may become a dangerous precedent and anyone might demand autonomy. If they need different conditions, let them come with arguments to the government and a decision will be taken by high officials. Otherwise, the state’s interests are undermined. Moreover, they weren’t even able to explain what kind of autonomy they wanted: territorial, airspace, etc. They say they want to appoint the school principals, the municipality’s police commissar, but these are absurd things. In a democratic state, this would violate the people’s rights”, said Nicolae Oncuta. The Government representative thinks that the PCRM councilors’ decision to organize the referendum is meant to destabilize and to divide society.