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Public hearing for "Territorial"/ Boçi: Reform should be returned to the citizen, not remain a political product

2026-04-22 20:06:00, Aktualitet CNA

Public hearing for "Territorial"/ Boçi: Reform should be

The public hearing of the Territorial Reform Commission began today in Lezha, where the co-chair of the commission, Luciano Boci, emphasized that the process will be open and focused on the real concerns of citizens.

"We are here to listen to citizens, to understand their problems and to reflect on a model that has not delivered the promised results," said Boçi.

According to him, territorial reform should not be treated as an issue of political parties, but as a direct service to citizens. He emphasized that this reform is closely related to the quality of services and the way revenues are managed at the local level.

Boci raised concrete concerns about the current situation, citing weaknesses in social services and the phenomenon of depopulation, as well as the lack of real autonomy of municipalities.

"Today we see mayors with limited powers and their hands tied financially ," he said.

He then discussed alternative organizational models, citing the Nordic countries as an example.

"Let's discuss it openly: whether we should move towards a model like Sweden's, with more competencies for local government, including tax collection and stronger functioning at the regional level," said Boci, adding that local autonomy should also be guaranteed at the constitutional level.

Among other things, during his speech, referring to the 2015 reform, Boci explained that the Democratic Party had not abandoned the process, but that it had been politically decided by the majority.

"In 2015, there was no real consensus. The reform was imposed and the results are before us today: a model that does not function properly," he said.

According to him, unlike that period, the current reform must be built from the bottom up, listening to citizens and reflecting the real needs of communities. Boçi also raised the issue of the number of municipalities, opposing the approach of reducing them without a broad political and social agreement.

"If in the end the SP does what it wants – the reduction of municipalities without consensus – what do we gain? We accepted it once and what did it bring? Failure. If we follow the same path, we will have the same result ," he declared.

In this context, he emphasized that the Democratic Party advocates a model with more municipalities and more local autonomy, as a way to improve services and maintain the connection with the community.

According to Boçi, only a reform built on consensus and the interest of citizens can guarantee the real functioning of local government and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. /CNA