President Meta has vetoed and returned to parliament the law on ‘Regional Development and Cohesion’, which divides the country into four territorial units called development regions.
On Friday, the president argued that the law is unconstitutional as it affects the autonomy of local government.
“The government’s purpose through this law is to concentrate and control the local governance through the Council of Ministers, while according to the Constitution, local government should function as decentralized and autonomous in its activity,” Mata stated in his veto.
In his argument, the president added the government has taken up competencies of the parliament, which is the only body that can set boundaries of territorial administrative units.
He stressed that the law was adopted without holding consultations with inhabitants in these areas, whose life would be directly influenced by the planned division and development policies.
President Meta argues that the law provides the government with unchecked power over local government, further deepening the political and constitutional crisis in the country.
