The territorial-administrative reorganization is a component part of the National Decentralization Strategy and can be carried out only before the local elections because the tenure of the new mayors and local councilors cannot be interrupted. That’s why the time is now opportune for implementing this reform in Moldova, said local public administration expert Mihai Roscovan. “If we do not do it now, it means that we will postpone this reform for another four years and the decentralization will stagnate because we will continue to spend money on financing the local public authorities, not on developing services needed by the population,” Roscovan stated for IPN.
The expert explained that the National Decentralization Strategy has seven strategic objectives, including strengthening the administrative capacities of the local public authorities (LPAs). The activities to delimit the powers and financially decentralize the LPAs started to be carried out, but the problem of the territorial-administrative reorganization remains yet unclear because it wasn’t established how and when this reform will be done.
Current structure is very fragmented and 80% of mayors cannot cover even their administrative costs
“The National Decentralization Strategy says the current territorial-administrative structure – with 889 LPAs of the first level (cities, towns, villages and communes) and 35 LPAs of the second level (districts and municipalities) – is very fragmented for a country with a population of 3.4 million. Though the law on the territorial-administrative organization provides that a territorial-administrative unit must have at least 1,500 residents, more than one third of the local units have fewer inhabitants. The low number of people limits the financial resources and the administrative capacity of the LPAs to fulfill their responsibilities. Most of the local public authorities do not have sufficient capacities and resources to provide services and play the role of representation rather than furnishing services at the local level. For their part, the district councils are intermediary bodies between the mayor’s offices and the Government. They deal more with the redistribution of resources rather than with the provision of services,” stated Mihai Roscovan.
The expert noted that most of the mayor’s offices of Moldova have only stamp, not yet capacities and resources to provide the necessary services to the community. “Calculations show that over 90% the mayor’s offices spend more money on administration than on public utilities – which is the most important category of local services. For 80% of the mayor’s offices, the administrative costs are higher than the revenues collected on the administered territory,” stated Mihai Roscovan.
District administrations from Soviet period must disappear
The solution proposed by the experts is to switch over to a new administrative structure and to strengthen the capacities of the local public administrations by merging the small communities with large territorial-administrative units. This will bring important savings from reducing the administrative costs and reallocating the resources earmarked for providing services. Thus, the small communities, if they form part of large territorial-administrative units, will benefit from services that they didn’t enjoy until now owing to the financial or administrative limitations. “There are a number of options for efficient territorial-administrative reorganization from among which the government must choose. It’s yet certain that the new structure should not envision mayor’s offices for communities with a population of under 1,500 and the current Soviet-like district administrations,” said the expert.
Territorial-administrative reorganization is a politically sensitive subject
Mihai Roscovan said the territorial-administrative reform is a difficult political subject. The essential reduction in the number of mayors and councilors elected under party lists usually affects the party interests. But the national interest is for the public money to be spent not on keeping the party staff, but on providing services to the people. The Government must find a rational solution that will be also politically acceptable. This reform requires preparations, an analysis of the reorganization options and their impact and a public debate. A roadmap for implementing the reform should be worked out. Also, an appropriate legal framework should be adopted. It will also be beneficial to use stimulatory financial instruments for promoting amalgamation, especially investments in infrastructure. It would be ideal for the reform to be done before the next local elections.
Asked if postponing this year’s local elections for implementing the reform will be justified, the expert said that if the Government really intends to do this reform, a postponement will be justified because it is a very profound reform and time is needed for drafting and adopting the legal framework appropriate for the new structure. But if the postponement is based on other reasons, it’s no use doing so.
Alina Marin, IPN
