In a public response, the State Chancellery specifies that the process is regulated by Law no. 225/2023 and Government Decision no. 925/2023. The institution mentions that the deadline of July 31 for the current stage of consultations was set and communicated from the beginning of the year.

According to the Chancellery, local authorities had the necessary time to analyze the amalgamation option, consult the communities, and make decisions. The Government provided technical and methodological support for town halls throughout the process, the institution further specifies.

The State Chancellery maintains that over 85% of the targeted municipalities are involved in the process, and more than 175 have already adopted the final decisions. At the same time, within the framework of the reform, over a thousand local council decisions would have been approved, and hundreds of mayors would have requested assistance from the executive.

CALM has challenged the way the administrative-territorial reform is being promoted, claiming that the July 31 deadline for the voluntary amalgamation of localities is being used to exert pressure on local elected officials. In a letter addressed to the country’s leadership, the Prosecutor General and the Director of the SIS, the organization demanded an audit of the way the process is being carried out.

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CALM asserts that the reform is based on a concept not approved by a normative act, but used as a foundation for the amalgamation of localities. The organization claims that mayors and local councilors are pressured to accept the process, even though it is presented as voluntary.

According to CALM, the deadline of July 31 and the actions taken to comply with it affect local autonomy and the principles of the rule of law. The congress representatives also argue that the reform is being promoted before the necessary legal framework is adopted.

CALM invokes possible violations provided by the Penal Code, including abuse and exceeding job duties, forgery in public documents, and usurpation of state power.

In the address sent to President Maia Sandu, Parliament President Igor Grosu, deputies, Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, Attorney General Alexandru Machidon and SIS Director Alexandru Musteata, CALM requests the restoration of legality, the cessation of pressures on local authorities and the resumption of dialogue with communities.

Previously, the State Chancellery clarified that the deadline of July 31 is an operational one for the completion of administrative and legislative stages related to the current stage of voluntary amalgamation and does not limit the initiation of such processes in the future. The institution also mentioned that the decision to amalgamate belongs to the communities and local councils, and the role of the Government is to provide methodological and legal support and to verify the legality of the procedures.

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Representatives of CALM argue that the reform process cannot be imposed without effectively consulting those who will implement it. According to them, local authorities have been marginalized, and the Joint Commission, the dialogue platform between the Government and local public administration, has not met for almost a year. At the same time, CALM believes that the deadline of July 31, set for the voluntary amalgamation of localities, is unrealistic and contravenes legal provisions.

During the meeting, the organization proposed a review of the local public administration reform by strengthening decentralization and the financial autonomy of city halls. Among the proposals are the reorganization of the second level of local public administration, strengthening the role of cities in regional development, extending the period of voluntary amalgamation, and adopting measures for fiscal decentralization.

CALM drew attention to the difficulties faced by city halls in implementing projects funded by European funds. According to the organization, the lack of a co-financing and pre-financing mechanism can block important investments, as many local administrations do not have the necessary resources to cover expenses until the money is reimbursed.

At the same time, the organization has called for the acceleration of the digitization of public services and local administrations’ access to state registers. CALM argues that, in the absence of these measures, the reform risks creating new difficulties for citizens.

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CALM criticizes the way the financial benefits of amalgamation are promoted. They argue that mayors are promised investments and access to development funds, but there are no legal guarantees for maintaining these funds in the long term.

The representatives of the Congress believe that the announced financial incentives are insufficient in relation to the needs of the communities and the costs of infrastructure projects, such as road modernization, expansion of water and sewage networks or the development of public services.

The organization warns that the dissolution of some town halls may have long-term effects, and localities that lose their administrative status could have a reduced influence on decisions directly affecting them. Some villages risk becoming dependent on larger administrative centers and losing their ability to manage their own issues.

At the same time, CALM argues that any potential pressures on local authorities must be analyzed in light of the current legislation. According to the organization, officials or dignitaries who exceed their duties or mislead local administrations can be held accountable if violations of the law are found.

The Executive Director of CALM, Viorel Furdui, argues that reform should be the result of a real dialogue with communities, not of administratively imposed decisions. “It’s not reform, it’s just nicely packaged political centralization. All governments lacking institutional memory that have carried out radical reforms, trampling over local democracy, have quickly and definitively faded into history”, stated Viorel Furdui.

CALM rejects any form of forced amalgamation and calls on the central authorities to continue the reform through consultations with local administrations, respecting the principles of local autonomy.

The Secretary General of the Government, Alexei Buzu, specified that the voluntary amalgamation process will conclude on July 31, and starting from August, the Government will initiate the regulatory amalgamation process. According to the data from the State Chancellery, currently, 773 municipalities are in the process of amalgamation. Out of these, 112 are uniting around the district centers.

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In a press conference at IPN, the executive director of CALM, Viorel Furdui, stated that the reform needs to be analyzed from the perspective of social, economic, legal, and administrative impact. According to him, the current concept does not sufficiently answer the questions regarding the future functioning of local public administration and the guarantees offered to communities.

CALM expert, Viorel Rusu, noted that the project almost exclusively focuses on the amalgamation of localities, while other tools provided in decentralization strategies – such as intercommunity cooperation, strengthening of the tax base, and delegation of competencies – are insufficiently addressed. He warned that a hastily implemented reform could affect the representativeness of local authorities, local democracy, and rural development.

The local elected officials present at the conference mentioned that the reform must provide clear answers regarding financial decentralization, the local authorities’ own revenues, co-financing mechanisms for European projects, the digitalization of public services, and the operation of unified service delivery centers. They further stated that the proposed financial incentives for amalgamation are useful, but insufficient to generate long-term development.

In the position presented, CALM proposes an alternative approach based on extensive public consultations, asymmetric decentralization, strengthening of local autonomy, and respect for the principle of subsidiarity. The organization believes that any change in administrative-territorial boundaries should be preceded by effective consultation of citizens, including through local referendums, where applicable.

At the same time, CALM advocates for a comprehensive reform, which should include both local and central public administration, as well as measures for financial decentralization, digitalization, clear delineation of competencies, and territorial reorganization based on broad political and social consensus. The representatives of the Congress warn that, in the absence of genuine dialogue and thorough impact analysis, there is a risk of repeating the failures of past administrative reforms.

Note: The IPN Agency offers the right of reply to those who consider themselves targeted in the news made from the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.

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The request was made in Brussels, during the EU Enlargement Days. The CALM representatives asked for support in carefully monitoring the reform and facilitating a dialogue between the involved authorities, citing signals regarding the deterioration of the local democracy situation.

The Executive Director of CALM, Viorel Furdui, stated that in recent years there have been progress in the field of local democracy, including in terms of institutional dialogue and local public finances. However, the organization maintains that recently there has been a reduction in dialogue with the institutions responsible for reform and difficulties are arising in several areas related to the activity of local public administration.

CALM believes that the reform should be carried out gradually and on the basis of a broad consensus. The organization warns that an approach perceived as imposed could generate tensions among local authorities and communities. At the same time, CALM representatives maintain that the process must preserve the principles of local autonomy and be accompanied by a continuous institutional dialogue.

According to the organization, Moldova’s European path must remain based on the respect for the principles of local democracy, subsidiarity, and the involvement of communities in the reform process.

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The executive director of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova stated that the lack of thorough preparation and a clear vision for the implementation of the APL reform could lead to the repetition of past failures, which have generated distrust and disappointment in society. According to him, the main risk is that the reform could be discredited, which, in the end, could even affect the European path of the Republic of Moldova.

“This type of reform, if not well prepared, if there is no clear vision for each stage, if all the tools, including financial ones, are not provided beforehand or in parallel, then there is a risk of repeating past mistakes. That is, the risk of repeating past failed reforms, which have brought great disappointment among the population and have greatly influenced social and political processes. And in the end, they contributed to the halt of the European course of development and modernization”, explained Viorel Furdui.

At the same time, the director of CALM questioned the effectiveness of the financial incentives announced by the authorities to encourage voluntary amalgamation of localities. He asserts that, despite the increase in funding, the concrete results are uncertain.

“We were told that financial incentives have been tripled. In three years we have two successful mergers. The mayors of these localities agreed to the merger even when the incentives were not tripled. But even tripled, these incentives raise big questions. If the merger of 4-5 mayors is desired, the territorial entity increases a lot and if we analyze the price of a kilometer of road or a kilometer of water supply or sewerage, we see that these incentives are not enough, even if tripled”, said Viorel Furdui.

Disclaimer: This material was produced by the IPN News Agency as part of the project “Local Public Administration Reform Through Dialogue”, funded by the Ministry of Culture through the Media Grant Fund.

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The expert of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova mentioned that the threshold of 3 thousand inhabitants is an arbitrary one, without a solid foundation and without taking into account the different realities of local communities.

“This figure of 3 thousand inhabitants is not scientifically demonstrated. They took some data from the ancient period. Even then, it was said that to optimally manage a community, it should have around 3 thousand people. No one can say whether 3 thousand is the optimal number, 2,500 or 2 thousand, because there is no scientific argument anywhere in this regard”, explained Viorel Rusu.

The expert pointed out that the efficiency of local public administration does not depend solely on the population size, but especially on the financing method and the degree of fiscal decentralization.

“As long as we don’t have fiscal and financial decentralization, localities will not prosper, even if you amalgamate 10 localities. And this is because most of the funds are centralized. If the Government has taken 80% of the funds into the state budget and subsequently redirects these funds, how can the city hall cover its administrative expenses from its own revenues?”, further stated the CALM expert, Viorel Rusu.

Disclaimer: This material was developed by the IPN Press Agency, within the project “Local Government Reform in Dialogue”, financed by the Ministry of Culture from the Media Subsidy Fund.

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Alexei Buzu emphasized that the activity of the Council of Europe in the field of local autonomy has guided the Republic of Moldova in the process of reconstructing local public administration. According to him, the reform will allow more efficient investments in water supply, road rehabilitation and will facilitate citizens’ access to public services through unified service delivery centers.

“The Republic of Moldova continues to make progress in implementing the reform of local public administration – one of the most important reforms for the modernization of the state, strengthening local democracy and bringing public services closer to citizens”, declared Alexei Buzu.

In this context, the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova emphasizes that the reform must be the result of a democratic consensus, expressed through consultative local referendums. The executive director of CALM, Viorel Furdui, stressed that any attempt at forced amalgamation against the will of local communities violates the law, discredits the necessary reform and turns it into an act of usurpation of state power.

According to him, the administrative-territorial reform is not a simple technical or organizational matter, but it touches the very structure of national sovereignty and the way in which citizens exercise their state power.

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The representatives of CALM warn that the current draft of the project could weaken local autonomy and allow arbitrary interventions in the administrative-territorial reorganization process. The organization emphasizes that, according to European principles, changing territorial boundaries must be preceded by consulting communities through a local referendum, and decisions should be made as close to the citizens as possible.

CALM further specifies that voluntary amalgamation cannot be treated as an isolated measure, but must be integrated into a broader reform of public administration. According to the congress, essential measures are needed to encourage cooperation between localities and to ensure sufficient financial resources for the development of public services.

In this context, CALM requests the creation of a working group to review the project, so that the amalgamation process becomes transparent, functional, and community-focused. Without adjustments and broad consultations, the reform risks generating distrust and tensions at the local level.

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