Municipal administration: Dodon vs Chirtoaca

[Info-Prim Neo analysis of the series “Platforms of Candidates for Mayoralty of Chisinau under Civil Society Scrutiny] The current structure of the municipal authorities dates from the Soviet period and is significantly bureaucratized. This makes the work of the Chisinau administration inefficient and inefficacious. During the tenure of the current mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, who is the Liberal Party’s candidate, a functional analysis study of the City Hall and its subdivisions was carried out with the assistance of foreign and national experts. The reform of the municipal administration is based on this study. Regretfully, this reform wasn’t implemented because the parties that formed the old Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) did not have enough political will. Another cause is the imperfection of the existing legal framework as regards the municipality’s right to decide its own organizational structure, delimit the powers between the central and local administrations in general and the municipal administration in particular. There are also legislative divergences between the law on the status of Chisinau municipality and the law on the local public administration concerning the structure, powers and responsibilities of the municipal administration. Therefore, the reformation of the municipal public administration will represent a key concern for the future mayor of Chisinau. However, this major problem is not adequately addressed in the electoral programs of the runners for the mayoralty of the capital city. Only the platform of Victor Bodiu (who withdrew from the electoral race and has supported Dorin Chirtoaca) contained a well thought out plan of action for dealing with this issue. In the program of Dorin Chirtoaca, who, as I said, directed the process of working out the reform of the municipal administration, this issue is regarded as a priority and is accompanied by several important steps, including: (1) Approval of the institutional development plan of the Chisinau City Hall and its subdivisions; (2) Implementation of the electronic document management system at all the subdivisions (E-Chisinau). But the program does not specify how the given measures will be implemented. Details are probably contained in the strategic documents on which these steps are based. The actions are achievable given that they already started to be implemented during the current tenure. But now that the CMC consists mainly of Communists, the mayor will have to show perseverance and ability to negotiate many aspects of the institutional reform. Two chapters are devoted to the administration area in the platform of the Communist Party’s candidate Igor Dodon – one centering on the municipality and the other one centering on the settlements that form part of the municipality. They contain 23 measurers, ranging from the organizational restructuring of the Chisinau City Hall to the extension of the trolleybus lines. Some of the measures meet the necessities of the reform of the municipal administration, but most of them are populist in character and represent unattainable promises. For example, the candidate proposes inventorying the entire municipal patrimony, ignoring the fact that the land stock was inventoried in 2009. There was worked out, discussed and approved the strategy for administering the land stock, which constitutes an important part of the municipal patrimony. Moreover, Igor Dodon promises to allocate plots on which to build houses to young people, but he probably does not know that the land in the suburbs is distributed by the local mayors and councils, not by the mayor general or municipal council. Given the abovementioned facts and the present configuration of the CMC, it is highly improbable that the municipal administration will be reformed and will work efficiently during the next four years. [Liviu Andriuta, Business Consulting Institute executive director, for Info-Prim Neo]