Congress of Local Authorities pleads for participative dialogue with central authorities

The Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova wants a better dialogue with the legislative and governmental bodies. It asks that a representative of the organization should be allowed to attend the meetings of the parliamentary commissions and the Government, where there will be discussed bills centering on the local public authorities, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a discussion with Head of Parliament and Acting President Marian Lupu on January 26, it was stressed the importance of the decentralization reform and of a participative dialogue at the local and central levels. The Congress’s president Tatiana Badan, the mayor of Selemet village of Cimislia district, said the members of the Congress want the government program to focus on local autonomy and efficient administrative decentralization and the local public administration reform to be effective. Mayor of Orhei Ion Stratulat, vice president of the Congress of Local Authorities, said the local public administration reform should be aimed at financial and institutional decentralization. The Congress, by the 400 communities that it represents, must take part in the social dialogue alongside the employers and trade unions. Marian Lupu said the January 26 discussion represented a start of cooperation with this organization. “The administration of the Congress of Local Authorities is motivated to put forward its own proposals and present the opinions of the mayors and councilors as regards the implementation of the local public administration reform. I’m glad that it has such an attitude,” he stated. As regards the Congress’s wish to delegate a representative to attend the meetings of the parliamentary commissions, Marian Lupu said the Congress would better begin with taking part in the formulation of bills on the local public authorities so that they contribute to improved legislation before the bills enter Parliament. The Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova is a nongovernmental, nonprofit and politically unaffiliated organization that brings together legal entities, representatives of towns and villages and professional associations.