Ceban Called for a Referendum to Be Held in Chisinau on Schools and Municipal Boundaries

The Mayor of Chisinau, Ion Ceban, has stated that a local referendum is needed, in which the capital’s residents should express their views on two issues concerning the management of schools and changes to the municipality’s boundaries. According to Ceban, the following questions should be put to a vote: - Do the residents of Chisinau agree to the transfer of schools to the jurisdiction of the government, specifically the Ministry of Education? - Do they support the expansion of Chisinau’s municipal boundaries through the incorporation of other settlements, in addition to the existing suburbs? The mayor claims that the changes proposed by the authorities will result in schools coming under the control of central government bodies, a change in the leadership of educational institutions, and the termination of educational projects implemented in recent years. Furthermore, Ceban criticized the initiative to alter the distribution of income tax. According to him, reducing the share of revenue allocated to the municipal budget from 50% to 45% will result in annual losses of over 1.2 billion lei. “This is money that the city council invests in projects and programs. It is outright theft from the people,” he stated. Ceban also believes that the proposed tax changes are linked to the need to replenish the state budget, which, he says, has a significant public debt deficit. He estimates that the public debt has reached 142 billion lei.