Filenews 3 March 2021 - by Frixos Dalitis
A new twist on the issue of local government reform is brought about by the opinion of the Attorney General of the Republic, creating new data that essentially lead to a new cycle of the series on the reform of Local Government.
The Government, taking the pass given by the opinion of Giorgos Savvides in relation to the holding of referendums, is now bringing the matter back to the House with a proposal to hold a Cyprus referendum on the day of the parliamentary elections. This means that the bill approved today by the Council of Ministers and tabled in plenary on Thursday should be discussed as a matter of urgency in the Committee on the Interior and brought to a vote before the House of Commons is self-dissolution at the end of April for the announcement of parliamentary elections.
At the moment, essentially, the issue of reform and whether it will eventually be possible to implement it will depend on the outcome of the debate again in the House, with the new bill to be tabled by the Ministry of the Interior based on the new data of the Opinion of the Attorney General and moving on the following two lines:
- the referendum must precede the passage of the reform bill, and
- should be on a global basis and not at local level.
The interior minister had gone to the Attorney General following the amendments to the government bill and the addition of the referendum provision supported by the ACPL, DIKO, EDEC Ecologists and ELAM parties. The provision provided for a referendum to be held in all municipalities and communities of Cyprus that would be invited to join one of the 20 municipalities that would result. It also provided for it to be carried out before December 2023, six months before the reform was implemented. A development at the time which had provoked the reaction of both the Government and the DISY, because it was seen as a threat to blow the whole effort up.
After yesterday's overthrow, however, the Government was quick to prevent developments with the tabling of a new government bill, while the DISY sees the Opinion of the Prosecutor as a vindication of its positions regarding the holding of a single referendum on a Cyprus basis and not in the affected municipalities and communities.
A position which certainly best serves the Government's plans with regard to the reform of Local Government as it will not be limited only to the affected municipalities and communities, whose citizens working on local criteria could be placed negatively on the idea of union.
At the same time, a pan-Cypriot referendum in which citizens will be asked to place themselves either positively or negatively on the question that will be asked of them, comes into a broader context that concerns the general philosophy of reform and perhaps not specifically the question of union.
"The provisions of the law are very clear. The answers should be affirmative or negative - as defined by the relevant article of the law. The question will obviously be raised as to whether the House of Representatives will adopt the government's position, but we believe that in this way, while respecting the views of the parliamentary parties, we are allowing precisely, after so many debates, to have the opinion of the sovereign people," Interior Minister Nikos Nouris said in his statements after the Attorney General's reply.
Nikos Nouris said he had informed both the Speaker of the House and the leaders of the parliamentary parties in a letter. He also made it clear that the Referendums Act "stipulates that the Council of Ministers decides on the issue of holding a referendum, but this proposal should be approved by the House of Representatives".
The DISY also welcomed the development. "We are also aware of the Interior Minister's recommendation to the Council of Ministers to hold a single referendum in relation to the reform of local government in parallel, together with the holding of the 2021 parliamentary elections, a position with which we agree" was Pindarou's reaction, through the parliamentarian Xenia Konstantinos.
Positive placements of EDEC - Solidarity
The first position on the part of the EDEC was positive in the Government's intention to table a proposal for a referendum before the reform. As stated in a party announcement, the EDEC from the very first moment was clearly in favour of holding the referendums before the final adoption of the bills related to the reform of local government. "It therefore adopts the government's motion for a referendum on 30 May."
Solidarity also takes a positive look at the issue, noting that it has no objection to holding a referendum on local government, but, he clarifies, it does not consider that the next three months are enough to properly inform citizens about the issue.
Cautious ACPL and DIKO
ACPL and DIKO, have serious reservations about yesterday's development and the Government's intention to come back with a new bill and therefore the follow-up in the House is expected to be unpredictable. At least from the first reactions of the two main opposition parties, what we can see is that they will not rush to conclude the debate in order to hold the referendum together with the parliamentary ones as the Government wants.
The ACPL retains as its position of principle the local character of the referenda, as well as the fact that there must be dialogue with the local community on such a serious issue. The left-wing party does not agree with the issue, but it reserves the right to study the whole issue when the bill comes to the House. The same is said of DIKO, which reserved itself to discuss the matter in its collective bodies. It is stated, however, that at first sight it does not satisfy the party's position for dialogue with the local community.
