Municipal councilors against creation of Consultative Quarter Councils

The constitution of Consultative Quarter Councils as suggested by a draft project that was tabled to the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) for approval is not backed by the councilors. At the last meeting of the CMC, many of the councilors said that the project should be reexamined, Info-Prim Neo reports. The councilor of the Social Democratic Party Eduard Musuc said that it was not the opportune moment to set up such councils. He said that CMC should now deal with the multitude of problems related to the administration of the housing sector. “The given people’s consultation and self-management methods are very good and welcome, but are not well-timed,” Eduard Musuc said, stressing that the people are not ready to engage in such activities. The Social-Democratic councilor Emil Gutu said that the initiators of the project did not take into account the changes and proposals discussed at public debates on March 13. As the modifications have not been introduced into the draft decision and owing to a series of internal contradictions, the councilors refused to vote it. It was decided that the draft decision will be sent back for adjustment, so as it includes all the previous proposals. The leader of the Liberal Party faction Corina Fusu expressed her dissatisfaction, saying that the municipal councilors find a large number of impediments for not adopting simple decisions. She said that the regulations that envisage the creation of Consultative Quarter Councils is intended to help CMC establish a viable dialogue between the councilors and the ordinary people. Corina Fusu stressed the necessity of creating an effective partnership between the local authorities and the civil society so as to increase transparency and better consult the citizens when making decisions. The project to create Consultative Quarter Councils was worked out during November - December 2007 on the initiative of the nongovernmental association INRECO Conflict Resolution Institute. Representatives of different CMC factions took part in the formulation of the project. Under the document, the Consultative Quarter Council is a people’s apolitical, nonprofit and voluntary organization set up in accordance with the law on the local public administration with the aim of identifying and solving the problems faced by the local community. The project is financed by Soros-Moldova Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.