There are no chances for the referendum initiated by the municipal councilors of the Communists’ Party in Balti regarding the expansion of local autonomy to take place. The councilor broke several laws by voting for it, Info-Prim Neo learned from Corneliu Gurin, expert in constitutional law. “We must see the decision first, because they spoke of financial-budgetary autonomy. If it means autonomy regarding the management of taxes, it is impossible because such issues cannot be decided by referendum according to the Electoral Code. Then, what kind of referendum is it? Is it consultative or normative at local level? I understand it is consultative”, said Corneliu Gurin. He said that local autonomy was regulated by the Constitution and by the Law on local public administration, so that central authorities are the ones to decide the limits of local autonomy. “In Moldova, Chisinau Municipality and the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia do enjoy broader autonomy, but these are different things. The status of Chisinau as a capital is stipulated by law, in accordance with the Constitution. UTA Gagauzia also has a dedicated article in the Constitution. Other municipalities and administrative territorial units can be granted autonomy only by the central authorities, following all the necessary legal procedures. Corneliu Gurin argued that, to his knowledge, the councilors who voted for the referendum broke at least the Law on decisional transparency, because the proposal wasn’t presented and analyzed properly. “Otherwise, it’s still too early to speak of how the referendum could be organized. I’m confident that it won’t succeed, though. They voted for it and the Central Electoral Committee must set a date, but it won’t. Besides, I’m sure the government’s territorial representative will appeal the decision in court and this will take a while”, said the constitutional expert. Corneliu Gurin added that the situation could be a provocation and the local Communist councilors might have done it knowingly in order to tense the situation in reply to the decision to forbid Communist symbols. “In Balti, there were always more Communists. It’s a provocative answer. I think they could be talked to, told where they were wrong and to return to normal work. We’ll see how central authorities react. Even if they did everything according to the law, they could still be explained why such a referendum cannot be organized. Besides, it’s not such an urgent matter to be decided by referendum, as Balti already has some economic facilities”, said the expert. PCRM municipal councilors in Balti decided on Thursday, July 26, to organize a referendum regarding the expansion of the municipality’s autonomy. The authors of the initiative claim that Balti depends too much on Chisinau and that local authorities should have more powers.