On June 14, the citizens of Moldova will vote the new local administration. IPN News Agency set the goal to determine how the local public authorities coped during the current term that is coming to an end. Experts, opinion leaders and representatives of civil society from different settlements will assess the activity of the local authorities of the country’s districts and municipalities. IPN series: Teleneti district
---
Telenesti raion or district has 31 mayor’s offices for its 54 settlements. The total population of the district is over 70,000.
Eugenia Rosca, director of the public association “Concordia” based in Inesti village of Telenesti district, said that the budgets in most of the mayor’s offices of the raion are 80-90% based on allocations from the state. If the mayor’s offices had financed themselves and received funding from the state depending on the number of residents, the authorities would have been motivated to create new workplaces and to support the businesses so as to increase the amounts gathered into the local budget from local taxes. This will lead to enhanced welfare for the people and an improved economic state of the country.
Asked how the local public authorities coped during the last four years, Eugenia Rosca said it is hard to say as, from her viewpoint, those who hold posts do not really want changes. Owing to the grants, the mayor’s offices solved partially a number of problems. Money was allocated to the mayor’s offices from the Road Fund for partially improving the road infrastructure. But this money was used according to political principles, as some of the grants were.
Eugenia Rosca believes the authorities of Telenesti district should lay emphasis on agriculture, if we speak about the necessary projects. Investments are also needed in entrepreneurship and the tourism sector. If the country’s economy grows, the people’s welfare also grows and infrastructure is developed. More projects based on public-private partnerships should be promoted.
Speaking about the abilities needed by a mayor, the director of AO “Concordia” said the mayors must have the appropriate studies, skills and a good team so as to attract investments and deal with the existing problems. To increase efficiency of the local public administration, the legislation should be amended, first of all the Law on the Local Elected Officials so that it provides that the candidates for mayor must have higher education. The Law on the Territorial-Administrative Division must also be improved. “What kind of a mayor’s office can be there with 300 houses in a settlement?” asked the expert.
In Telenesti district, 16 communes have a population of 2,200 to 3,000 and only four settlements have about 4,000 inhabitants. The population of Telenesti town is about 8,000, while in the other settlements of the district the population oscillates between 1,000 to 2,000.
Asked to what extent the projects announced in the previous election campaign were implemented, Eugenia Rosca said some 30-35% of the promises were delivered.
The expert noted they expect that the local elections will be fair and will take place without violations and that the people will make a conscious choice and will think about the future, how they would like to live and what changes they want. Eugenia Rosca voiced hope that honest people will be chosen in the local general elections, who would be able to satisfy all voters’ needs because these posts are a great responsibility, especially now when we can say that there is political instability in the country.
Mariana Galben, IPN
