Filenews 26 August 2021 - by Andreas Pibishis
The government will have to provide the reform of local government in order to be able to achieve disbursement of European funds, which are considered of great importance for the Cypriot economy. There is an attempt to put pressure on the parties to take decisions on the reform in September, but the landscape for postponing the December elections remains murky.
The Minister of Interior, in parallel with his contacts with the leaderships of the political forces, made sure through the Parliament that a letter from Theodosis Tsiolas was communicated in which it is stressed that "to ensure all the milestones and objectives set in the Recovery and Resilience Plan of Cyprus, so that all European funds can be disbursed", the reform of local government should go ahead. The Director General of European Programmes points out in his letter to the Ministry of Interior that the provision of the laws on municipalities and communities concerning the term of office of local government officials should be amended by December 2021, and B) by June 2024, all the laws governing Local Self-Government should be implemented.
According to N. Nouris, "we now have specific commitments, beyond the needs, to the European Commission for the support program for which our commitments concern the completion and implementation of the reform for Local Government, which is ranked very high by the EU by the end of May 2024".
As for the postponement of the December municipal elections and their move to 2024, the landscape remains murky. The president of DISY said that he is not in a position to state whether or not there will be elections. However, he pointed out that if "for the sake of reform it will take a postponement to achieve another modernising measure, to reduce the electoral processes ourselves, we are always open with consensus and wisdom". He noted that if the majority decides that elections should be held in December, they will be held as normal.
The president of the DIKO stressed that the reform of local government must go ahead. He noted that the issue of extending the term of office of existing city councils is complex, and his party will take a stand when a government proposal is presented. He said that "because these are complex issues we believe that a dialogue on this issue should be concluded in order to reach final decisions as parliamentary parties."
Some will be ill-will be mistreated
The political leadership believes that some of the affected mayors or communes will be ill-tempered by the decisions. Averoff Neophytou noted that "we may mistreat five communes and three mayors", and that we should not put these little ones in front of the great goal of a proper reform for the good of the entire Cypriot society.
We want the president of DISY continued "to strengthen the Local Government by giving it more powers, so that the citizen can have a better quality life but at the same time to make the right infrastructure works".
Nikolas Papadopoulos reiterated the readiness of the DIKO through a constructive approach and through dialogue "to come up with solutions so that as soon as possible the necessary reform of local self-government can be promoted, so that the municipalities and communities of Cyprus can be viable and on the other hand the services necessary for the proper functioning of municipalities and communities to improve the quality of life of citizens are upgraded".
