Lack of coordination between authorities cause instability, study

The laws in Moldova are of a poor quality and cause organizational, financial and political instability because there is no efficient consultation mechanism between the central and local authorities, says a study presented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiative (IDIS) “Viitorul” on March 11, Info-Prim Neo reports. During the presentation, Ion Beschieru, legal expert at IDIS “Viitorul”, said that the lack of information exchange between the local and central authorities results in the adoption of contradictory normative documents that cannot be implemented and seriously infringe the local autonomy. As there is no clear procedure, the central authorities consult the local authorities only by written ways. This shows lack of political will and questions their wish to successfully carry out the local public administration reform. On the other hand, the local administrations are split up according to political criteria and do not show solidarity, says the study “Consultation and Dialogue Mechanisms between the Government and Local Public Authorities” The local authorities had not been consulted when it was decided to introduce the zero tax on reinvested profit for legal entities at a time when these taxes were an important source of income for the local public administrations. The losses are significant. The municipality of Chisinau alone was deprived of incomes of 400 million lei last year, Beschieru said. According to him, an efficient dialogue between the central and local authorities would enable to mitigate the effects of the world crisis. IDIS recommends learning from other countries’ experience in communicating with the local authorities by correspondence and creating joint or specialized commissions that would consult the local public authorities in decision making. There is a parity commission in Moldova that should act as a bridge between the central and local governments, but it became a bone of contention. “This commission does not respect the principle of parity because only two of the 17 members represent associations of the local public authorities. Even these two members were selected according to criteria of loyalty to the central administration,” said Viorel Furdui, program coordinator at IDIS “Viitorul”. The normative documents adopted without consulting the local public administrations can be declared unconstitutional, while Moldova will continue to be criticized for not involving the local authorities in decision making, Furdui said. Attending the event, Vasile Bulican, division head at the Ministry of Finance, denied the accusations leveled at the government. “The representatives of the local public authorities are consulted when normative documents are being formulated. For example, when the public budget was planned, their opinion was taken into account,” Bulican said. The research forms part of the Public Political Studies collection prepared by IDIS “Viitorul”.