The State Chancellery has responded to the appeal of the Congress of Local Authorities of Moldova (CALM) and the accusations contained in it. According to the institution’s statement, the process of voluntary amalgamation has been regulated for more than three years by Law No. 225/2023 and Government Decision No. 925/2023, TRIBUNA reports.

“From the very beginning of the consultations launched this year, we openly communicated that this stage would last until July 31. The deadline was known to local public authorities and provided sufficient time for analysis, consultations with communities, and decision-making.

Throughout the entire process, the Government provided mayors’ offices with the necessary tools to ensure that the amalgamation of localities took place within clearly regulated and predictable conditions,” the State Chancellery stated.

According to the institution, the voluntary nature of the amalgamation is confirmed by the natural development of the process: some mayors’ offices decided to participate, while others continue to consider this option. Currently, more than 85% of mayors’ offices are involved in the process, and over 175 have already made final decisions.

“At the same time, within this process, local councils have adopted more than one thousand decisions. Hundreds of mayors and representatives of local authorities have approached the Government for technical and methodological support, while hundreds of video materials featuring local elected officials who chose to support amalgamation have been made publicly available on the Government’s official website.

All of this demonstrates that the process was open, based on broad participation, and built on decisions made at the local level,” the State Chancellery concluded.