“We are receiving a growing number of complaints from mayors and local councillors about the intimidation that they are being subjected to,” said Anders KNAPE, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, addressing the 34th session of the Congress on 28 March 2018 in Strasbourg.
In this context, the theme of the main Chamber of Local Authorities debate was “Mayors under pressure”. Two local elected representatives, Elena GRITCO, member of Balti municipal council in the Republic of Moldova, and Leyla IMRET, former mayor of Cizre in Turkey, were invited to talk about their experiences. The President of the Chamber of Local Authorities drew attention to the financial incentives being offered to, and the threats facing, elected representatives and candidates in local and regional elections in many countries. This political pressure was usually exerted by the ruling party, explained Mr KNAPE.
In his statement, Mr KNAPE underlined the crucial election observation work carried out by the Congress and the budget cuts that were unfortunately affecting these and other Congress activities. Going back to what the President of the Congress had said in her opening speech, Mr KNAPE mentioned the severe budget crisis facing the Council of Europe, before going on to talk about his involvement in the strategic steering group on reforming the way the Congress operates.
At this session of the Chamber of Local Authorities, members also adopted a recommendation on local elections in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” observed on 15 October 2017, and debated an information report on the local elections held in Georgia on 21 October 2017.
Statement by Anders KNAPE, President of the Congress Chamber of Local Authorities
** 34th Session of the Congress **
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