The revisions to the Local Self-Government Code were adopted by 76 votes to 3 in the first reading of the Parliament.
The proposed organic law addresses issues such as how to form a faction of the municipal council, how to draft a faction charter by members of the Council who want to form a faction, and how to operate as the Chairperson of the council.
According to the draft:
1. Members of the municipal council elected by one political party have no right to form more than one faction;
2. The obligation to develop a political platform for the registration of the newly formed faction will be removed and only the obligation to develop a charter will remain;
3. A new rule for the acting Chairman of the Council is defined;
4. The position of the First Deputy Chairman of the Council is added to the list of positions of the Municipal Councils;
5. The Chairperson of the municipal councils will have 3 deputies, including the first deputy;
According to Sozar Subari, one of the document's authors, the amendments will allow the number of deputies to the head of the faction of the local council to be increased.
The faction's chairman, in instance, will have one deputy for the faction's first three members, and one extra deputy for every fifth member.
"With the proposed modifications, the faction's position and stature will grow, and as a result, necessary regulations will be enacted in the councils. In terms of positions, the number of positions in councils will be nearly identical across the country; however, because the faction chairman earns more than the deputy chairman and the number of faction chairmen is drastically reduced, it will have little impact on budget growth", - Sozar Subari explained.
According to him, the accelerated consideration of the amendments is conditioned by the fact that it was deemed necessary to enact the adjustments before the newly elected councils began their work.