Local Autonomy without Elected Body. Or How to Live (Administratively) without Breath (of the Local Council)

Local autonomy is a principle of organisation and operation of the public administration, mainly regulated at the constitutional level. It represents a supreme recognition of its indispensable character in the state’s legal, political, and administrative architecture. Thus, the development of the life of a community in the absence of bodies democratically elected directly by the citizens appears completely outside the possibility of a natural administrative life. From this perspective, our study presents a specific case in which a territorial administrative unit functioned for three years (and will continue, most likely until the end of the mandate) without a local Council – the body democratically elected by the citizens to regulate life at the level of the fortress. The presentation will go through all the legal stages of the situation, starting from the first meeting of the legally established Local Council, following the 2020 elections, and ending up to now. The analysis of the incident regulations and the monitoring of the actual situation will highlight the weakness of the law from the perspective of its concrete efficiency and the danger it can constitute for democracy. Moreover, we try to raise an alarm signal on some interpretations that can lead to the illusion of the lack of absolute necessity of such institutions, with the argument that it is possible to live without them; often, the economicfinancial factor (the costs of the elections) taking precedence over the democratic debate, especially for a young democracy that still has a long way to go before reaching democratic maturity.