Filenews 13 April 2021
The majority of Members who participated yesterday in the Home Committee, citing the Municipalities Law and the European Charter of Local Government, recommend that the plenary of the House reject the Government's proposal to hold a Cyprus referendum instead of the local ones favoured by the opposition.
The referendum and local government reform are now being referred to the new Parliament that will emerge from next May's elections.
The Government's proposal was accepted by disy and dispa.
At the end of yesterday's meeting of the Commission, its President, Eleni Mavrou, developing the opposition of the majority of the Commission referred not only to European and Cypriot legislation but also to the short time remaining until the European Parliaments, in order to properly inform citizens about the provisions of the Reform, as there is "ambiguity of the question proposed by the Ministry of the Interior". "Our recommendation to the House next Thursday is to reject the proposal," he said.
DIKO MP Panikos Leonidou said the Commission's majority position was confirmed, rejecting the Government's proposal to hold the referendum for formal and substantive reasons. He also argued that there was ambiguity about the referendum question but also about whether local referendums should be held and not a general one.
DISY MP Xenia Konstantinou expressed regret that the vast majority of opposition forces reject the proposal to hold a referendum aimed at securing the approval of the people for a major reform that the country needs.
EDEC President Marinos Sizopoulos described as misleading the way in which the Government attempted to bring this proposal. He also said that the EDEC is in favour of the Reform of Local Government but disagrees with important parameters of the Government's proposal.
