Filenews 4 August 2021 - by Frixos Dalitis
The delphic dance for local government elections has begun, putting pressure on party staffs to get back into the election process.
The information, however, suggests that the holding of local government elections is beginning to drift away as a scenario, despite the fact that in today's circumstances there is nothing else on the horizon. The Government through the Minister of the Interior, Nikos Nouris, is expected in the next period immediately after the 15th of August to come back with the three reform bills of the Local Government, putting them back before the parties. The bills also provide for a postponement of the elections, providing for a transitional period to extend the mandate of the current local councils until the reform is implemented in May 2024, and the date on which the elections of the new Local Government will take place together with the European elections. The Government, as we are told, does not exclude the scenario of the limited term elections proposed by the ACPL. That is, a term of 2.5 years until the implementation of the reform in May 2024.
In this scenario, however, there are two practical issues: firstly, the reduced interest that may exist in claiming office and secondly, the possibility of electing mayors or platitudes who will be against the philosophy of reform. Therefore, for the Government, postponement is a one-way street, but the ball is in the party field.
Officially the opposition parties are in favour of holding the elections, since – as they say – there is nothing else for granted, essentially putting pressure on the Government to come back by lifting the burden of the decision. The information, however, suggests that there are also several voices within the parties in favour of postponement, as they find that it would not be in their interest to enter a new electoral process in such a short period of time. Especially after an election result that is not considered a success.
Now the bet not only for the Government but for everyone is to complete the process and pass the bills by the end of the year, since it is one of the conditions of the EU Recovery and Resilience Plan funds. For Brussels, it is a prerequisite for the adoption as a package of all three reform bills, namely the one on municipalities, on communities and on clustering, which overlap anyway. But if the TD reform bills for any reason are not adopted, then they also draw with them a number of funds that Cyprus would have to receive from the European funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
It is recalled that the commitments of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU for the adoption of the bills related to the reforms included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan are until December 2025. These are a total of 51 bills, 23 of which have already been tabled in the House and another 28 will be tabled in the next period and should be voted on by December 2025. A voting date has been set for each bill separately. There are bills for which the commitment to the EU is December 2021, such as bills on local government reform.
The adoption of these 28 bills, which are expected to be tabled next year in the House of Representatives and the other 23 bills already tabled and pending, is considered necessary for the implementation of the reforms of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, with the consequent disbursement of European funds attributable to the Republic of Cyprus.
€4.4 billion bet all 58 reforms
The "Cyprus – tomorrow" Plan, in its integrated form, includes a total of 58 reforms and 76 development investments, which constitute the largest reform and development intervention since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. Taking into account cohesion fund funds and private investment from the implementation of projects, the overall impact of the project, excluding expenditure on the State budget, amounts to €4.4 billion. The Cyprus – Tomorrow plan includes reforms on the introduction of green taxation, the liberalisation of the electricity market, the facilitation of energy renovations in buildings and the acceleration of electricity mobility. It also includes a wide range of renewable energy investments targeting households, businesses, municipalities and the wider public sector and non-governmental organisations.
