The Electoral Bloc of the Communists and the Socialists reacted to the proposal of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) and signed the call addressed to the election runners, by which these are requested to set decentralization as a priority, IPN reports.

The document was signed by the executive secretary of the Party of Socialists Vlad Batrîncea and the executive secretary of the Party of Communists Elena Bodnarenco.

Representatives of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova made a call to all the election contenders and political forces, urging them to abide by the decentralization and local self-government objectives and to commit themselves to achieve these goals by signing a statement. This way the election runners will recognize decentralization as a legislative priority and will undertake to take concrete measures to consolidate local self-government in the Republic of Moldova.

The CALM asks for the direct allocation into the local budgets of the income tax collected from legal entities in a given territory, in the amount of at least 10% for the budgets of the municipalities of Chisinau and Bălți, at least 15% for the budgets of the municipalities and district centers and at least 50% for the budgets of towns and villages. Also, the deductions from the income tax paid by private individuals for towns and municipalities should be raised from 50% to at least 75%.

The leader of the Electoral Bloc “Renato Usatîi” also signed the CALM’s call to recognize decentralization as a legislative/governmental priority and to undertake to take concrete measures to strengthen local self-government.