Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and the National Liberal Party (PNL) refuse to deceive the public: the reform of local administration is not mere window dressing, the PNL conveyed on Monday.

Ciprian Ciucu, PNL First Vice-President, announced that five out of six reform packages will be adopted this week. However, he said ‘the future is uncertain,’ and the Liberals will only remain ‘part of a coalition capable of keeping the country afloat and relaunching it economically.’

According to a Facebook post by the party, Ciucu said that political parties must remain reasonable, clarifying that the actual reduction in positions is around 10%, not 25% or 45% as reported in the media.

‘A town hall or county council has a maximum staffing cap, depending on the population size. Nationally, this cap totals approximately 180,000 positions. Some local councils have not built their organisational charts to the maximum limit. Currently, the total number of positions listed in local authorities’ organisational charts is about 158,500, meaning roughly 23% fewer than the legal maximum. Conclusion: a 25% cut to the maximum staffing cap would have no real effect, as it would concern positions that were never created or filled in the first place,’ Ciucu explained.

He further noted that not all positions within the organisational charts are occupied.

Ciucu added that if a 10% reduction in filled positions cannot be agreed upon, then the maximum staffing cap should be lowered by 40%. In nominal terms, this would result in a reduction of about 13,100 occupied positions.

According to him, if the base cap were reduced by 25%, no occupied positions would be eliminated. However, if the legal maximum cap is reduced by 40%, as PNL has proposed, around 10% of currently occupied positions would be cut – although the coalition had originally committed to a 20% reduction.

‘In nominal terms, we are talking about around 13,000 occupied positions. This is a time for each local council to assess whether reductions are necessary, by comparing themselves with similar localities where staff levels are already balanced,’ Ciucu added.

He also said that Ilie Bolojan’s proposals are nothing more than common sense.

‘If the ruling coalition cannot implement even these basic structural reforms, how can it expect to undertake more impactful ones? What we know now is that five out of the six packages will be passed this week. The future remains uncertain. We will only take part in a coalition that can keep the country steady and relaunch the economy. Otherwise…,’ Ciucu also said.

The government is expected to assume responsibility in Parliament on Monday for five drafts from the second reform package. The sixth draft, concerning local public administration reform, has been postponed due to disagreements within the coalition.

AGERPRES