Abraham: Central level keep hands off local autonomy

Kosovo Communist Association Director Saban Ibrahimi has said it is disturbing to intervene the central level in local affairs. He has said that the municipal Assembly has executive competence for provision of municipal property, while the mayor of the municipality can only launch relevant procedures, Online Economy reports.

For municipal property, Ibrahimi says MAPL can only investigate decisions, but not interfere with them. For this, Abraham earnestly requires that the central level keep my hands off municipal decisions.

He stresses that the final decision on providing municipal property in exploitation is made by the municipal assembly, while the mayor of the municipality has only the beginning of initiative procedures.

The exclusive computer of municipalities is to give its property in exploiting an economic operator. Also, the law on providing municipal property in the use of Article 6 determines how and how long it provides municipal property in use. It should be noted that any municipal property is granted with the consent or decision of the members of municipal congregations. So the chairman has the authority only to start the initiative procedures, and then the final decision is made by the municipal assembly. So, the municipal assembly is an organ that can give municipal property to use”, he said of EO.

Ibrahimi for the EO said that in most cases the mayors complain that the central level is not being carried out in time decisions that should be reviewed by various local-level ministries.

As for municipal property, he says MAPL has no right to intervene in municipal decisions.

The “According to both our analysis and the central level shows that over 95 percent of municipal assembly decisions when going into the local level of legitimacy are in order. It's an extremely small percentage of decisions that come back from the central level. It's about the duration of what time the decision should be returned from the central level, in most cases the mayors complain that the central level does not return to legal terms which different ministries or dictatorships should consider at the local level. In the municipal property issue, with the law on providing municipal property, it is deciditably that the legality of the decision examines the Ministry of Local Power, but not intervenes in the decision”.

“In the past few months, we are witnesses to the time that there is this kind of paperwork, requests from the central level of which requirements, paperwork in the last case, has considered them to be violations in local autonomy or violations in municipal competencies. Or overcoming competencies from the central level of local level. The Kosovo Communists Association has always been open to bilateral co-operation between the central level and local level so that citizens can benefit”.

Abraham also spoke of the return of the festival “Sunny Hill” in Pristina, which he says has great benefits for the capital. Citing President Rama's words, Pristina could benefit from the festival as much as 15m euros.

He says it is surprising how some ministers violate in municipal competencies, he stresses there are also laws that do not allow central-level intervention.

“In this case, Mayor Rama has stated that the benefits from holding such a festival would be 13-15m euros that for a Kosovo municipality these financial means are extremely high. It has been good that, due to late co-operation, the situation regarding the festival was adjusted. But in general we are surprised at how the Association of Kosovo municipalities takes courage knowingly or consciously to violate the competencies of local authorities. We have the law on local self-government, where it's in Article 17 for its own powers. There are other sectoral laws that do not allow central level intervention at the local level because it is the law on local self-government. We're trying to insist that the central level of government take its hands as far away from local autonomy as possible because there is a European card on local self-government that determines power, the functioning of local government”, he said.

He stresses that the separation of competencies should be respected and there will be no interference from the central level.

“Comps are clear as tears, pure as tears in terms of providing municipal property in exploitation. The municipality and only municipality is the institution that provides its own municipal property in use through the mechanisms it has built and through the municipal assembly. It must be discerned that the mayor does not decide to give municipal property but is the municipal assembly. For this reason, this separation of competencies should be respected and there should be no interference from the central level to local level competencies”, he said.