Capital’s administration will undergo new purges before local elections – Municipal Council opposition

The head of the economy, reforms and patrimonial relations Division, Valentina Merla, has been dismissed on Thursday, February 1, by the Chisinau Municipal Council. The proposal came from the leader of the communist faction Svetlana Popa and was supported by communist, Christian democrats and social democrats councillors. AMN faction and Social Action Bloc left the sitting hall. The Communist Party requested to dismiss Valentina Merla based on the article 86 of the Labour Code, as she allegedly committed serious violations. Svetlana Popa made reference to the unsatisfactory preparation of the draft decision regarding the assessment of the indexes of economic-social development in Chisinau, although all the specialised commissions of the Municipal Council appreciated the document. In turn, Valentina Merla claimed that she did not commit any violation that would trigger her dismissal. Requested by the councillors to explain the legality of the proposal to dismiss Valentina Merla, head of the Legal Division Ghenadie Gluscenco doubted its legality, as it didn’t receive consent from trade unions. Moreover, Valentina Merla did not face any discipline earlier, as outlined in the labour legislation. The Government representative Valeriu Didenco shared the same opinion about the illegality of this CMC’s decision, for the reason that it is not included in the agenda approved by the councillors. Interim Secretary of the Municipal Council Nicolae Manastarli stated at the sitting that he will not countersign the decision on the dismissal of Valentina Merla. In the context, leader of the Social Action Bloc Mihai Roscovan said that a number of heads of divisions under CMC subordination are to undergo purges on the eve of the local elections. As Roscovan states, there are insistently spread suppositions that Veaceslav Iordan came to hold the position of general interim mayor having a list of heads of Divisions that are to be dismissed and replaced with persons from the list of the Communist Party. This list includes the Architecture, Urbanism and Land Relations Division. According to the same source, the respective list was coordinated at the Presidency and the new interim mayor Iordan, along with the communist councillors and Christian democrats were to implement it. In his opinion, the appointment of other persons to the position of heads of municipal Divisions would be performed with a view to using administrative resources from the municipal budget in the election campaign. Chisinau interim mayor Veaceslav Iordan denied the existence of such lists in the City Hall, stating that the public servants will continue the activity programme for 2007 of the former interim mayor of the capital Vasile Ursu.