In the campaign prior to the new local mayoral elections, Andrei Nastase announced a series of priorities for his mayoralty. One of the commitments is to eliminate the persons responsible for the appropriation of public funds, rigging of tender contests, fraudulent management of the budget and abusive use of public property from the units of the City Hall. In his electoral program, the candidate says he will create a team of devoted professionals chosen according to integrity criteria, with relevant aptitudes, who will fill the posts instituted based on a new organogram, IPN reports.
The leader of the Party “Platform Dignity and Truth” (PPPDA) Andrei Nastase said that as a mayor he will order a profound and honest internal audit at the municipal enterprises. Later, those whose existence cannot be justified as the services they provide cost less on the free market will be liquidated. He will launch a campaign to attract local and foreign investments to develop infrastructure, increase the efficiency of services and strengthen the institutional capacities of the municipality. He also intends to launch a program of grants designed for entrepreneurs from the suburban settlements and from the sector of small and medium-sized businesses.
Among other commitments assumed by the leader of the PPPDA are the augmentation of the salary fund for preschool, primary and secondary education teachers and managers by 45 million lei and its annual adjustment to the rate of inflation as of 2019. In his electoral program, he stipulated such goals as to increase capital investments in the education system and to allocate funds depending on the set priorities. Among the priorities are also the opening of new kindergartens and groups for ensuring a place for each child at nursery schools and the setting of a minimum financing volume for education from the total revenues of the City Hall, of at least 20% starting with next year, by excluding the transfers.
Among the measures that Andrei Nastase promised to take during the first year in office are to lay out corridors for public transport, to apply information technology to regulate the transport and flow of passengers and to increase the number of new trolleybuses outfitted with ramps for persons with special needs and air conditioning. At the first stage, the operational activity of the existing operators will be subject to a thorough audit. At the second phase, a remedying plan will be drafted to center the operational activity on the mobility needs of the people and to remove the old public units of transport.
Andrei Nastase also promised that during the first month of his mayoralty he will order to outfit all the institutions managed by the City Hall with bicycle parking racks and programs to support the users of alternative and ecological units of transport will be later implemented.
He pledged to initiate a municipal program entitled “Accessible High-Quality Medicine” that will envision the renovation of the municipal health facilities and closer cooperation with the university and academic communities in reforming the municipal health system. He also promised that as a mayor, he will make sure that the city is accessible and inclusive for all the residents. According to him, the urban infrastructure that is not adjusted to the needs of persons with reduced mobility, blind people and others is one of the biggest problems in the capital city.
According to the preliminary election outcome, the candidate of the Party “Platform Dignity and Truth” Andrei Nastase won the mayoral elections with 52.57% of the vote, while his rival Ion Ceban, of the Party of Socialists, gained 47.43% of the poll.
