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Political parties call for consensus to address the reforms on the local system and funding
The need to regulate by law the salaries of mayors and council, greater transparency in municipal management and, above all, the need for a political pact to boost local government reforms and funding have been the points most important match expressed by representatives of political parties in the discussion forum of the FEMP that takes place in El Escorial.
The debate centered on the Local Government Code of Good FEMP, has met the representatives of the PSOE, Pedro Sanchez, the Popular Party, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, CiU, Joan Ramón Casals, and UI, Encarna Páez.
They have all agreed that the Code of Good Local Government, recently approved by the FEMP is a good starting point for progress in the field of transparency, good governance and participation, among other aspects that could be enshrined in law future.
Encarna Páez, Mayor of Villanueva de Tapias, said the main problem is the financing of municipalities, because skills can not be established without adequate funding, besides appealing to the principle of local autonomy which includes the Constitution and that, in their opinion, been violated by the Royal Decree of the Government, which prohibits municipalities the ability to access long-term loans in 2011.
The representative of IU suffer discredit spoke of politicians, especially local, and proposed to counteract this effect, that their salaries are regulated by state law, while there is a regulation of the number of positions of trust.
The Mayor defended participatory democracy in municipalities and transparency in management, because "there can be no opacity in the councils." Finally, he made a plea for the feminization of local politics.
Joan Ramón Casals, Deputy Mayor of Molins de Rei and Municipal Secretary for Policy CiU, considered a basic need to manage with efficiency and ethics in the daily functioning of municipalities. Not all municipalities have the ability to apply the same management efficiency - and therefore he added, FEMP has to assist in policy development for smaller have sufficient resources.
Casals should be further stated that other issues such as "proximity" to bring the local political people, first to the most voted lists or study the possibility of open lists, in installments of municipalities.
Salaries for elected local officials, proposed to be regulated by law, the criteria already given in the code FEMP, and to rationalize the number of positions of trust at the local level.
About the new Local Government Act, said it has to be a "basic law" and that he has to develop in each territory are the Autonomous Communities, they are those who must decide which model of Local Government want.
Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, Coordinator of Local Politics People's Party, began arguing that you can not criminalize the mayors and council members, because "represent the best of the Spanish political class." "We talked about political leaders who mostly have no economic rewards and exert their task with the sole purpose of serving their neighbors," he said.
Bonilla called "fundamental" Code of Good Governance of the FEMP, "I would have to be an example to all levels of government" and called for simplifying the processing and procedural rules of the Local Administration. "It should be mandatory Surveillance Commission Procurement and be chaired by a councilor or councilor of the opposition. "
The representative of the PP said it takes an update to the Statute on Local Government, but also new funding, because otherwise "we are doomed to failure".
Finally, he called the "effort" of political parties to promote the decentralization process by the Autonomous Communities to municipalities through a state pact to boost that process, "because they do not know any Community alone you intend to do. "
Pedro Sanchez, Deputy Speaker of the PSOE in the Territorial Committee of the Congress of Deputies, said that the clarification of responsibilities is important, but also a culture of cooperation by the various administrations, from which the funds established by the Government are good sample.
Sanchez defended the fiscal discipline of the municipalities, in general, "they wanted for themselves and some autonomous communities, but in any case it is important to address this crisis is caused by debt.
On the current funding model, acknowledged that "is not what we want", but "thanks to this Government have increased as the amount of money never to have gone to local councils."
Referring to the participation of local councils in the income of the autonomous communities (clubs), said it was "one of the major challenges facing us matches."
Finally, he stated the need to deepen the participatory and representative democracy, as is outlined in the Code of FEMP, and improve control efforts of the opposition
