Moldovan president says reform of local public administration modern community work: more villages joining their mayoralties to make life better for everybody

In Moldova, people have always come together to lend each other a helping hand. Great things were done together, through the traditional “clacă” (community work). The reform of local public administration is, in fact, a modern “clacă”: more villages merging their mayoralties into a single one, in order to make life better for everyone – with water, sewerage, roads and modern services. President Maia Sandu today made statements to this effect at the event, Strong Mayoralties – Developed Settlements, held on the Great National Assembly Square (PMAN), also attended by Romania’s acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.

At the beginning of her speech, the head of state condemned the Russian drone attack on the city of Galati in Romania, in which innocent people were injured. The official addressed Romania’s interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.

“Russia’s aggression brings the danger of war into our homes and puts the lives of our citizens at risk. This war, which has been going on for four years, is killing people in Ukraine and must not continue in any form. We want peace in Ukraine, we want peace throughout the world. We want to talk about development, not about threats to our sovereignty and security. Together with Romania and other European states, we will continue to strengthen our defense, in order to protect our citizens and our country. We want to be able to talk about projects and modernization, not about drones above our communities. This is why, we are meeting here today: to talk about progress and prosperity. Mr. Ilie Bolojan, we thank you for Romania’s support and for the assistance you provide to the development of localities of Moldova and to our mayors,” Maia Sandu said.

The official thanked the local elected officials for their tireless work in the service of their communities and for their courage to embark on a complex reform that rethinks how localities are administered.

“Over 600 mayoralties have already ruled to merge their administrations and to cooperate for the benefit of local residents. I am glad that many of you are here today. We must acknowledge that the reform of local administration puts great pressure on you, on local elected officials. It is difficult to choose to rethink competences, to reorganize the administrative structure, to find consensus with your neighbors, with the surrounding mayoralties, and to explain to local residents why this reform is necessary, especially in a context of increasingly widespread disinformation,” the Moldovan president said.

Maia Sandu stressed that the experience of other European states showed that larger administrative structures represent a real opportunity for modernization. Thus, according to her, Moldova needs larger administrative structures and enough specialists to make use of the opportunities opened by the EU accession process.

“We all understand that denying the reality we live in is not a solution. It is regrettable that, after three decades, Moldova still has too many villages without running water, with impassable local roads and with public buildings whose roofs are leaking. The problem does not stem from a lack of willingness on behalf of local elected officials to meet people’s expectations, but from a lack of resources, of specialists and from administrative fragmentation. When we came to government, we put the development of our villages and towns first. Since 2022, when we launched the largest local development programme – European Village – we have repaired hundreds of kilometers of roads, built over 1,400 kilometers of water pipelines and modernized schools, kindergartens and sports fields. We have invested more than ever before and, nevertheless, more and faster action is needed. A larger town hall has a larger financial capacity and can implement major projects. A small mayoralty is forced to spend more money on maintenance and no longer has sufficient resources for development. A strong mayoralty pools resources into a bigger budget and can build water pipelines, wastewater treatment plants and connecting roads between localities,” Maia Sandu said.

The head of state also pointed out that EU pre-accession funds were provided for large projects with regional impact, implemented by consolidated teams.

“What citizens want most are modern services. They can be organized more efficiently in a larger mayoralty. Waste management, social services and digitalization are cheaper and easier to manage in an efficient administrative structure. Of course, in order to achieve these goals, central and local administrations must ensure two essential things: digitalization, so that people face as little bureaucracy and as few trips as possible and a fair distribution of money, so that no one is left behind,” Maia Sandu noted.

The president said that the reform of local public administration must be carried out together, through extensive discussions, for the benefit of citizens. She therefore urged all mayors to take part in this necessary change for Moldova.

“It is understandable that citizens are concerned, especially since there are also voices spreading various scare stories to block the reform. No one says the reform is easy. That is precisely why it is essential that we work together for our localities, that we discuss different visions, weigh the arguments and identify the best solutions. Mere opposition does not help localities. We need cooperation and dialogue. My call to everyone is to take part in this necessary change for Moldova. Let us work together, not against each other, because I am convinced that we all want developed villages and towns,” the official stressed.

Maia Sandu spoke about her native village – Risipeni, in Falesti district – and emphasized that the reform of local public administration aims to raise the living standards in all villages and towns of Moldova.

“I was born and I grew up in Risipeni, Falesti district. Neither then, nor today, almost 50 years later, is there running water in the households of my village. In my native village, according to the latest census, 1,246 people live. They deserve tap water, a sewerage system, connecting roads and street lighting, just as all the inhabitants of the villages in our country do. And they deserve these things now, not in another 50 years. This is a painful reality we are living. But we do not look at it with resignation. For more years, we have started to address problems accumulated over decades, and now we have launched a reform whose objective is to improve the standard of living in our villages and towns,” Maia Sandu added.

She noted that the implementation of the reform of local public administration must take place in parallel with the process of accession to the European Union.

“Moldova missed the opportunity to join the EU together with other states in the region. We have lost too much time and we can no longer afford to waste precious time. We must move forward on both fronts: to build European administrations at home while we advance in the accession process and attract external funds for development. The reform of local public administration will not improve things overnight. Months and years of work will follow to build strong administrations, to bring services closer to citizens and to carry out important infrastructure projects. But if we do not carry out the reform, all these things will remain impossible,” the official said.

The president underlined that the authorities must act to catch up with the development level of European states and to improve living conditions at home, so that those born in Moldova will want to live here.

“We start from a painful truth: Moldova has beautiful, picturesque villages full of traditions, but villages that have been emptied of people over the last three decades, before our eyes. People did not leave because they do not love their land, but because they were tired of waiting for normality. We have a duty to bring normality to our communities as quickly as possible. We can achieve all this together, if we pool resources and invest wisely. United, we are stronger. We love our villages and towns – let us build together a modern and prosperous future for them,” Maia Sandu concluded.

Over 400 mayors from localities that have initiated the voluntary amalgamation process, district heads, members of relevant organizations and external partners are taking part today in the event, Strong Mayoralties – Developed Settlements, held ion PMAN.

The event is dedicated to the reform of local public administration and the strengthening of administrative capacity. Discussions will focus on how the authorities intend to build strong town halls capable of attracting external funds, implementing major projects and providing good services to people.

In late last January, the government officially announced the launch of the process of preparing the reform of local public administration, as part of efforts to modernize the administration and improve the quality of public services provided to the population. Subsequently, broad consultations on the reform were held with all stakeholders, after which the government presented the reform concept.

The parliament has recently approved a decision simplifying the process of voluntary amalgamation, as an essential part of the reform of local public administration. Thus, localities that choose to merge their administrations will benefit from financial incentives for implementing local development projects. Another benefit of amalgamation is bringing public services closer to citizens – more than 600 services will be accessible through Unified Service Delivery Centers and the one-stop shop. In addition, a representative of the mayor will operate in each locality, so that the link between local administration and the community is maintained.

So far, 663 decisions have been approved to initiate the amalgamation process, covering 767 mayoralties, which account for about 86 per cent of all mayoralties of Moldova.