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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The Democratic Party held a roundtable and open meeting on Monday (March 31) in the framework of the Territorial Reform, where the issues inherited from the 2015 reform, described by the opposition as a failure of the majority, were discussed. The meeting also presented the alternatives and the new project proposed by the DP.
In his speech, the co-chair of the Territorial Reform Commission, Democratic MP Luciano Boçi, accused the majority of aiming to "create a vote warehouse" and "centralize local government", with the aim of political control of power.
He announced that the DP proposes increasing the number of municipalities, even if the reduction of districts from 12 to 8 were accepted, emphasizing the need for more complete institutional and territorial coverage in the service of citizens.
"When we talk about this reform, despite the absurd theories of the majority, everyone admits that the real failure of local government has brought us here. We are not here to achieve previously undeclared goals. The Socialist Party is using the same theses as in 2015, not integration, geography and others. Its goal is to re-control the vote as absolutely as possible. It is true that the population is moving, but the solution is not the relocation or removal of institutions from the areas and the lack of state presence there. The problems come from the lack of investment, financing", said the democratic deputy, among others.
Boçi also emphasized that Albania, according to him, remains far from European standards, linking this to the effects of the 2015 reform, which according to the opposition has also influenced the depopulation of the areas.
"The EU requires professional administration and transparency. The morality of all this resembles the fable of the engineer who, after having demolished his own house, comes up with 4 new projects. We must correct the extreme politicization and local authorities, after the problems with the 2015 reform and misgovernance. It was done with the aim of decentralizing local government, but it did not bring anything, but the real goal was to turn them into vote warehouses. We have less decentralization, more abuse and corruption, depopulation of rural areas, lack of health and education services. The others can be called reforms like today's. There is only one solution, a new territorial map with more municipalities, which increases the quality but does not consider the increase in the number of votes", explained the opposition legislator.
He further emphasized that the difference between the two parties is not simply related to the number of municipalities, but to the way local government is organized and its independence.
"The goal here is not that the DP wants more municipalities and the SP less, but the qualification of local government and independence, without centralization, because the opposite would produce the same problems, fewer services and more inequality. The goal of the SP is centralization and the lack of independence of local government. The DP has clear goals and achievable objectives, proposed by our experts, to increase the number of municipalities in order to be close to the people and where they are needed. Increasing the quality of service, European standards, decentralization, integration into the EU, these are our goals. We are for the creation of fewer districts, but with the coverage of the territory with as many municipalities and their presence among citizens to provide services", said Boçi.
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