Csoma Botond rejects the government assuming responsibility for administrative-territorial reform and calls for parliamentary debate

UDMR parliamentary group leader Csoma Botond rejected on Monday the proposal by PSD President Sorin Grindeanu for the Government to assume responsibility for administrative-territorial reform. The statement was made in Parliament, where the UDMR representative argued that such a procedure would be “undemocratic” and inappropriate for a change with a major impact on local communities.

Csoma Botond called for the bill to be debated in Parliament, including by a special committee, which he said had previously been proposed and agreed upon in the joint Standing Bureau. He stressed that the reform must not be adopted “overnight” and must not affect ethnic communities, particularly by changing their share following the merger of some localities.

The UDMR parliamentary group leader said that his party does not oppose reforms and understands the need to update the administrative system, created in 1968 during the communist period. However, he called for alternative solutions and exceptions for areas inhabited by minority communities, in line with international treaties.

On the same day, Sorin Grindeanu announced that he would propose to the prime minister that the Government assume responsibility both for administrative-territorial reform, which would include merging small localities while maintaining public services, and for reorganizing the central administration.