Boçi: Territorial Reform cannot be done in stages, the Commission's deadline should be extended

The Special Commission for Administrative-Territorial Reform met today to discuss the progress of the work and the reports presented by the experts.

The Co-Chair of the Committee, MP Luciano Boçi, criticized the way the majority is trying to speed up the process, bypassing some of the stages approved in the draft work calendar.

"We invite the Commission to respect itself and the decisions it has adopted. We have a draft calendar and the stages set out in it cannot be ignored," declared Boçi.

According to him, the presented report is based mainly on the 2014 Administrative-Territorial Reform, while the Commission should first develop a complete analysis of the existing reform and then determine the principles on which the new reform will be built.

Boçi raised questions about the work of the majority experts on a new territorial model, at a time when the Commission has not yet approved the principles and methodology on which the reform should be based.

"How could the majority experts have worked on Administrative-Territorial Reform 2, when we have not yet defined its principles?" he asked.

The Co-Chair of the Commission also highlighted that the hearing process has not been completed. According to him, the hearing for the Tirana Region has not yet been closed, while the mayors of the municipalities of Tirana, Vlora, Shkodra and Lezha have not appeared before the Commission, although they were obliged to participate.

He added that the hearings with communities, interest groups and international institutions have not yet been held, the public survey has not been carried out, nor have the study visits foreseen in the calendar.

"Where is the political document? Where are the two or three variants that should have been presented to the Commission? How can we talk about a final report, when most of the approved obligations have not been implemented?" said Boçi.

The MP requested an extension of the Commission's deadline until October, in order for the work to be completed in a serious manner and for the constitutional deadlines for legal amendments to be respected.

He also brought up the extension of the Electoral Reform Commission's deadline as an argument, emphasizing that the work of the two commissions is directly related.

"We have only completed two and a half points of the draft calendar. We need to complete the third point and do work that serves the citizens, not a hasty and predetermined reform," declared Boçi.

According to him, the hearings held so far have shown that the proposal to reduce the number of municipalities does not enjoy broad support. On the contrary, some of the evidence and proposals presented have called for maintaining the 61 municipalities or increasing their number.

"We are not imposing our opinion. We are only asking for respect for the agenda and the draft calendar that was approved by vote by the Commission itself," concluded Boçi.