Mykola Tomenko: Administrative-Territorial Reform is impossible without Support of the Local Community
Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, believes that administrative-territorial reform is impossible without support of the local community. He made this statement, commenting on the President´s intention of liquidating some regional units together with districts within the administrative reform.
M.Tomenko stated that although ‘the most righteous´ heads of the regional administrations had already claimed their willingness to carry out the President´s decrees, the authorities might face serious protests and problems, if they fulfilled the President´s orders by the nominal-statistical factor (liquidation of the regions by the number of population). He reminded of the suggestion of the Ministry of Education concerning cut-down in the number of higher education establishments judging by the number of students and lecturers.
"Mathematical principle of liquidation of districts, and, correspondingly, not only power bodies or law-enforcement agencies, but also medical care institutions and education establishments may provoke more violent local protests, than the so-called ‘educational reform,´ M.Tomenko stated.
Mykola Tomenko does not rule out the possibility that implementation of this reform should be followed not only by public hearings, but also local referenda.