The document left by PSD to President Nicușor Dan at the Cotroceni discussions with the Coalition leaders
Nicușor Dan and Sorin Grindeanu Photo: Inquam Photos / George Călin
The PSD, who blocked the adoption of the draft law on the reform of the local administration, gave President Nicușor Dan, on Tuesday at the Cotroceni consultations, a document with six proposals. According to the document obtained by Hotnews, the requests include the 25% reduced stations, a percentage that led to the blocking of the coalition negotiations as Prime Minister Bolojan wants a cutting of 40% of the total number of positions.
The social-democrats demand that the process of reform of the local administration take place “gradually, differentiated and digitized” and reject the current proposals that say they will lead to “an administration mutilated by statistical cuts”.
They invoke four major risks if the reform continues in the desired form of the prime minister. Specifically, the PSD states that the current measures can lead to an administrative blockage, to emphasize regional inequalities, to lose European funds and to public distrust.
“Romania has today 3,228 administrative-territorial units (UAT), with a total of 189,777 positions in the local administration. The current simulations regarding a reduction of 45% of the total positions would lead, in practice, to 17,815 occupied positions, ie an average decrease of 14% of the total effective,” the PSD motivates.
In the press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Bolojan presented the situation of the positions of the local administration for each county, saying that the reform of the public administration would mean a reduction of 13,098 of the positions actually occupied, which means 10%.
Ilie Bolojan explained, in the press conference that the scenario with a 25% discount would have no effects, being reduced only the unoccupied stations. Thus, in order to reach a 10% discount on the actually occupied positions, a cut of about 40% of the total positions is required.
The PSD is also dissatisfied with the method of implementing the reform of the local administration. In the document invoked, they write that the data discussed at present will lead to regional imbalances as only 3% of the positions will be cut, while in Buzau, Galați or Sălaj percent of over 20%.
“This approach risks generating sub-administration in small rural areas, where 2-3 officials in the minus can mean the absence of basic public services (accounting, urbanism, social assistance),” PSD considers.
Requests before PSD President:
Finally, PSD makes six recommendations for how local administration reform will be held:
- Establishing a realistic reduction threshold: maximum 25%, differentiated on functional criteria.
- Creating an index of administrative efficiency that combines demographic, economic and institutional data.
- National Program for Digitalization of Public Services (unique platform, interoperability, vocational training).
- Development of inter -communal cooperation for expensive services (IT, legal, acquisitions).
- Launching a national debate on voluntary merging of the UATs under a certain population threshold.
- Ensuring transparency and social protection for the staff concerned with restructuring (mobility, reconversion, training).
The full text of the document left by PSD to President Nicușor Dan:
Cotroceni discussions on coalition blockage
The meeting of Nicușor Dan with the leaders of PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR, the first since the installation of the Bolojan government, lasted almost three hours. Tuesday's discussions were summoned by the president in the context of the coalition voltages that led to the blocking of the project regarding the administration reform.
According to sources quoted by HotNews, the leaders of the Government parties and the president agreed two weeks, until mid -September, to agree on the local administration.
The same sources say to be decided to form a working group to be part of the Deputy Prime Minister Cătălin Predoiu and Marian Neacșu and the Minister of Development, Cseke Attila, in order to reach a calculation formula to be applied for all the town halls when the availability is made.
