Filenews 6 December 2021
The debate on the reform of local government is postponed until 13 January, after new proposals were submitted to the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior today, while parties have asked for further time for discussion in their collective bodies. The postponement is made at the request of the parties DISY, DIKO and The Movement of Ecologists.
Therefore, all the amendments of the parties should be submitted in writing by 20 December, in view of the continuation of the debate on 13 January, while in the meantime the parties have stated that they will have consultations both in their collective bodies and with the Ministry of Interior.
The President of the Interior Committee, AKEL MP Aristos Damianou, expressed his disappointment that after 11 long meetings of the Committee, "we will not go the last mile" until December 20th as it had been co-decided, after a number of parties declared today before the Committee that they are in the process of preparing amendments, taking final decisions in their collective bodies. He added that he had no choice but to recommend the continuation of the discussion on the first date offered, which is January 13, 2022.
He added that with the amendments having to be tabled in writing by December 20, the interval should be used both for political discussion in parallel and outside the margins of the Interior Committee, but also to bridge the differences on the open issues that remain. Mr. Damianou said that because some amendments have been tabled orally that relate to the philosophy and architecture of the bills, de facto the Ministry of Interior should be involved in the process, however, he added, this process will not be allowed to leave the framework of the Interior Committee, the Rules of Procedure of the House, the whole process that began a long time ago.
At the same time, he appealed to all parliamentary groups to consider the extent of their responsibility so that "we continue to proceed responsibly" and if we agree that the reform is a social necessity and especially of local government, with a sense of urgency and away from any expediency inside and outside parliament, to close their ears "to various chairmen" and to proceed with the common good as a compass, the public interest. He expressed the hope that the parliamentary parties, regardless of what is written in the headlines, would maintain this responsible attitude of the past few weeks.
He also said that AKEL today presented its amendments and the party was and is ready and on December 8 has a designated session to reaffirm the position in support of the bills.
At the same time, he made it clear that no proposal was put forward for five metropolitan municipalities across Cyprus, noting that if the headlines respond to processes taking place outside parliament, with some working to overturn the philosophy and architecture of this reform, then they will refer the reform to the Greek calends. He said it is a given that if what they have before them today is overturned, even by 2024 it will not be possible to reform.
In response to a question, he said that there are amendments concerning some issues, but also views were also heard concerning other issues.
DISY MP Nikos Sykas noted that the reform will be done and will be done on the basis of the timetables set from the outset and recalled that they said that if they did not have time in the last session of the Parliament they would continue in early January.
DISY and the members of the Interior Committee, he added, in recent days have had an intensive meeting between them to process the amendments and that the Parliamentary group of DISY will meet tomorrow to discuss the amendments.
DISY said today it was clear that it follows the bill that has been submitted by the Ministry of Interior and it makes provision for a maximum of 17 Municipalities, while it believes that referendums since the elections have been postponed do not serve anything.
He added that for DISY the reform is not only about reforming the number of municipalities and that for the party the top reform is called a provincial self-government agency which was one of the reasons they said to be discussed with the Ministry of Interior in the next few days. He noted the timeless effort made on the 75 issues that have been resolved and thanked the president and the members of the Committee.
He said that January 13 will be the last session and the next available plenary will go for a vote on the reform. He added that the reform is both an absolute and a social need which the party will support because it will be voted on.
In response to a question, he said that DISY is not in conflict with any party and that DISY set the limit of municipalities at 17, so in anything further down "we are together". As for what they will discuss with the Minister of Interior, he said that they will talk about small details such as provincial self-government bodies, who will head the planning authorities, the issue of evaluation, the issue of scales, which are related to better functionality.
In response to a question on whether DISY participated in a background to reduce the number of municipalities to five metropolitan ones, he said that there are various studies with a different number of municipalities and that for them the essence is not the number of municipalities, but the effectiveness of the reform and that criteria such as the population mass, the characteristics of the area and economic data should be taken into account. He added that they did not participate in any background on the issue but are not in favour of the position beyond the bill to increase the number of municipalities.
DIKO MP Panicos Leonidou said that today's meeting was excellent in all respects because the precise points on which there is a different view on the reform of local government were revealed and there was a consensus to end the discussion and vote at the end of the process.
The DIKO, he added, insists on the view that the passage of this reform should go ahead, but noted that time cannot be fatal to the quality and substance of the reform. He added that in the meantime until January 13 there will be consultations, there may be another meeting to limit the amendments as much as possible and the final piece of legislation is brought before the MPs first to study it and then after there is a final conclusion on the issues to be discussed on January 13, the bill will finally be brought before the plenary.
He expressed the view that no one will suffer from the fact that there will be a continuation of the discussion, stating that dialogue, communication, understanding, will contribute to making the law functional, productive, efficient, transparent and democratic, aiming at administrative and financial independence.
He made it clear that before them is this bill and the specific views that have been put by the official lips of the representatives of the parties before the Commission and that so far there has not been any differentiation with new positions and views. The issues that have remained, he noted, are purely operational issues and issues that will not alter the philosophy of the whole legislation.
He mentioned that yesterday the Parliamentary Group of DIKO had a meeting in Limassol together with the party secretariat and worked out all aspects of the reform and the legislation and emerged through this discussion and some small issues that were said orally today and will be tabled in the form of amendments.
The MP of DIPA – Cooperation Marinos Mousiouttas said that unfortunately today's session brought a setback in the effort to implement the reform as it had been decided on September 17, when they committed by the end of November to take the bill to a vote and while everything was going smoothly, suddenly this morning three parties declared that they were not ready to implement what they had promised that until today they would bring the amendments to follow their promotion and the voted on 20 December.
He expressed the view that the essence was the commitment they made to the people after the postponement of the elections, to pass the reform.
He added that regarding the mergers of municipalities and communities, the position of the party is based on the study of Greek experts brought by the Ministry of Interior and talks about around 14 municipalities and submitted various scenarios. He also said they are against referendums, since he said they would dissolve the reform, adding however that "of course we can dissolve it ourselves"."
He also noted that "hope always dies last" and added that they will try despite the problems and adversities to move the reform forward, expressing the hope that in the end, even with a delay, the reform that they promised and have an obligation to give to the people can be carried out.
On behalf of EDEK, parliamentary associate Elena Kozakou - Lymbouri noted that EDEK responded to the timetables set by the Interior Committee and promptly submitted amendments based on our concerns on key issues concerning the election of municipal councillors on the basis of a single vote within the Municipality and not at the level of the municipal district as a step to achieve the real union of entities. The election of aldermen, he said, should be done by the City Council at its first meeting after the elections.
Also the amendments, he said, concern the exclusion of school superintendents from the scope of the reform as the over-concentration of responsibilities in the municipalities will lead to their dysfunction, making them unproductive.
EDEK's recommendation, he added, is that the school ephorates should continue to operate under the regime they operate today and that the election of their members should take place in a separate vote at the same time as the municipal elections.
