Councillors accuse Ursu of holding his office illegally

Capital’s interim mayor holds this office illegally, because he was appointed by the deputy mayor Mihai Furtuna, who did not have this legal right. During the extraordinary session of the Municipal Council (CMC) a group of councillors urged Ursu to resign from both the interim mayor office and the deputy mayor position. They say he repeatedly infringed moral and ethic norms and committed numerous violations. If the mayor does not resign, the councillors reserve themselves the right to initiate legal procedures for dismissing him, Info-Prim Neo reports. The statement of the councillors from “Moldova Noastra” Alliance, independent councillors and several councillors from other factions has been read by Oleg Cernei. According to it, on April 26, 2005, 10 days after Furtuna was appointed interim mayor by the former General Mayor Serafim Urecheanu, while in hospital, he has been constrained to renounce upon the office in Ursu’s benefit. Furtuna signed the order to transmit the office, which is a violation of the legislation. The Law on Local Public Administration says that if the appointed interim mayor renounces upon his position, it is only CMC who is entitled to assign another mayor, in a 5-day term. Thus, Ursu “seized the power using blackmailing and constraint”. „We witness a process of degradation and ruining of values, an arrogant behaviour towards citizens and municipal councillors, defiant relations with people, caused by lack of education and competence. Given the fact that Ursu does not respect the interests of the local community, does not adequately execute his duties provided by the law, breaks moral and ethical norms confirmed by mass-media and citizens, we request that he resigns from the deputy mayor office and the interim mayor one, which is illegally held. If he doesn’t, we will initiate procedures for his dismissal”, the Statement of the municipal councillors says. [Ursu plays deaf] Solicited about the issue, during the CMC break, Vasile Ursu stated that he wasn’t even in the country when Furtuna had been appointed interim mayor. Asked about the legality of the decision entitling him with the competences of the mayor, he answered “Ask him” (meaning Furtuna – editor’s note). CMC Secretary, lawyer Vladimir Sarban told Info-Prim Neo that Mihai Furtuna did not have the legal right to entrust his interim mayor function to the other deputy mayor. Given the fact that he hasn’t been elected by the population, but appointed to the office via the order of Serafim Urecheanu, Furtuna did not have the mandate to delegate the interim mayor function to another person, Sarban said. According to the cited source, in our legislation, the “interim mayor” notion is vague. However, since April 2005, Ursu signed thousands of orders and acts. Solicited by Info-Prim Neo, Mihai Furtuna confirmed the fact that in April 2005, while in hospital, he signed the given order, delegating the position to Ursu, but only for his illness period and not for an unlimited period. Furtuna asserts that the fact that Ursu continues to run the interim mayor function is not fair, because only CMC is empowered to appoint an interim mayor in such cases. The cited source adds that the MP Gheorghe Susarenco informed the General Public Prosecutor Office on the violation committed, but received a formal answer in which public prosecutors stated that the office was transmitted legally. In the same context, the Public Prosecutor of Chisinau, Vasile Pascaru, who participated in the CMC extraordinary session told our reporter that he needs time in order to deliver a proper answer. Pascaru failed to say whether the law had been violated or not in this specific case. He said he will make statements “when he will be prepared”.