Haziri for SP: Mayors must convince the citizen to pay tax

Lulzim Haziri, Executive Director of the Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI), an organization that has been working with municipalities for 26 years to strengthen local democracy, told Sloboden Pecat that being the mayor of a rural municipality in Macedonia means to see and hear the concerns of citizens every day.

- The current territorial division allows the mayors of rural municipalities to be closer to the citizens. However, extreme polarities and rivalries between political parties have created mayors close to their constituents and in open rivalry with political opponents. This is mostly expressed by investments and involvement of citizens in local decision-making. Comprehensive pre-election promises are gradually reduced only to investments in party settlements, while forums and debates with citizens are reduced only to the participation of party activists from the mayor's party.. This way of managing rural municipalities, the reluctance of mayors to collect municipal taxes for fear of losing the electorate, prevents citizens from expecting better services, while municipalities generate funds only for administrations full of party soldiers. - says Haziri.

Add to this, he points out, the weak capacity of civil society in rural municipalities to follow through on promises made to further mobilize local governments, and allow some mayors to win two or more terms.

- This way of managing the local self-government enabled capital results to be called investments in water supply and asphalt, as if these are the biggest needs of the citizens. These should be understood as legal obligations to citizens, while the needs of citizens are numerous and are mainly related to development policies and the promotion of services to them.. To achieve this, mayors must go out and meet with every citizen to persuade them to pay taxes to the municipality and explain what they will earn. Until then, excuses for possible failures will be sought in political rivals and the level of competencies - underlined Haziri.

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