Municipal Council of Durres completes its constituting. Budget ’11 to be discussed next meeting

Municipality of Durres will finally have its budget discussed by the Municipal Council in its next meting scheduled to be held on September, 29. This was announced  in the Municipal Council session held on September, 22, during which were also designated its commissions. These were the last requirements for the Municipal Council to be fully functional and have the budget discussed and passed.
The Citizens’ Transparency Office of Durres, established by the Center for Public Information Issues, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), voiced, on behalf of the public, the general concern for the situation created by not yet having a budget for the current year. The press release, publicly issued by the Citizens’ Transparency Office of Durres generated wide media coverage and had its effects. Indrit Hamiti, Chairman of the Municipal Council of Durres, in a meeting with the representatives of the Citizens’ Transparency Office of Durres, confirmed of having closely followed the press release issued, which had positive effects in the decisions taken later. In the last session, the Municipal Council made it clear that the next session, to be held in 29 September 2011, would see the budget discussed and passed. The Citizens’ Transparency Office of Durres has made it clear that there are no reasons to delay the passing of the budget.
However, in this second session, the Municipal Council of Durres has satisfied the last two remaining requirements in order to continue with its normal work. The election of the Secretary of the Municipal Council and the designation of its commissions were the two remaining steps towards achieving the full working legal status for the new mandate. The session, held on 22 September 2011, at 18:00 o’clock, elected Meliha Maloku as the new Secretary of Municipal Council and decided on the members for each of the 10 commissions. These decisions were taken in a unanimous approach. The opposition is to head half of the Municipal Council commissions.
The session was opened by administering the oath of Seid Kertusha, a Democratic Party member of the Municipal Council, who was absent in the first session held about one month ago. In the meantime, Sotir Ngresi, a Socialist Party member of the Municipal Council, gave up his mandate because of its incompatibility with the position he holds within the staff of the office of the Mayor of Durres. He was substituted by Astrit Duci, another representative of the Socialist Party.
The election of the Secretary of the Municipal Council, which by the law regulating the functioning the local government units is required to be held in its second session, was followed by some debate, mostly concerned with the technical and legal framework of the election. Indrit Hamiti, Chairman of the Municipal Council, proposed Meliha Maloku as the candidate to be elected. Since there was no other candidate proposed, the Socialist Party members of the Municipal Council proposed an open vote, even though the law requires a secret ballot. They also asked for the current Secretary of the Municipal Council to be dismissed first, in order for the new one to be elected. However, it was decided that the elected should be through a secret ballot, meanwhile the dismissal was not necessary because the result of the vote would have determined the continuation of the mandate or the dismissal of Meliha Maloku. At the end, Meliha Maloku was unanimously elected to continue serving as the Secretary of the Municipal Council.
In this session was also decided on the members of each of the 10 commissions of the Municipal Council. The commissions are very important because, before being discussed by the full session of the Municipal Council, they hold preliminary discussions on every matter that the office of the Mayor requires. The next session of the Municipal Council was decided to be held on 29 September 2011.