Florentin Pandele calls for a review of Nicușor Dan’s petition concerning the transformation of the city of Voluntari into a municipality

Florentin Pandele, the mayor of the city of Voluntari, has called for a thorough analysis of the petition filed by President Nicușor Dan with the Constitutional Court regarding the law under which the locality would receive municipality status. The mayor said he read the Presidential Administration’s statement “with astonishment and dismay” and argued that Voluntari should receive the same treatment as other localities transformed into municipalities in recent years.

Nicușor Dan argues that the law is insufficiently substantiated and raises concerns regarding clarity and predictability. The president invokes the principle of legality and the need for a city’s designation as a municipality to be based on general and objective criteria established by law.

In response, Pandele says that Voluntari has developed rapidly and that official data do not reflect the actual number of residents. According to the mayor, the city has nearly 50,000 residents in official statistics, but more than 125,000 people would actually live there. He also mentions the existence of more than 50,000 housing units.

The mayor maintains that municipality status would facilitate access to European funding for infrastructure, mobility and urban regeneration. Pandele notes that the change would not automatically entail higher taxes and says the administration does not intend to raise taxes for this reason.