Filenews 7 December 2021 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Hundreds of thousands of euros were spent on expert studies, hundreds of hours in meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings and other activities for the reform of Local Government, and when the bills arrived outside the door of the plenary of the House for approval, everything was thrown in the bin. Their approval is referred for the new year and with a drastic reduction in the number of municipalities from 17 that the Government begged and 20-21 promoted parties, in five metropolitan municipalities and 4-5 satellite municipalities, as provided for in the study of British experts made in 2014.
This solution, which under other circumstances would be considered as the most rational, assumes other dimensions due to the background that seems to have developed at the level of the top parties and if no reversals occur, in January it will be approved by the Parliament with the votes of DISY and opposition parties.
Behind the developments, some see an attempt to form a front for the presidential elections of 2023, starting with the cooperation in the Local Government, while on the other hand, some suggest that the reduction of the Town Halls from 30 to 20 would not be a reform but a mockery, since it would largely preserve the "local kingdoms", without resulting in savings in scale or service to the citizen, which is what the reform is all about.
Moreover, there is also the position that the reactions in some parties were so strong that it was preferred to overturn everything until further notice, since according to the commitment of Cyprus to the EU, the reform will come before the year 2024.
Yesterday, the chairman of the House Standing Committee on the Interior asked the Interior Minister for an explanation, who would be pleased with the reduction in the number of municipalities. In response, Nikos Nouris suggested that limiting the number of municipalities has always been on the government's agenda.
The president of the Union of Municipalities, Andreas Vyras, also expressed ignorance of what is happening, and is sending a letter to the Interior Minister today requesting information. Mr. Vyras received and received several phone calls from his colleagues but they all declared ignorance of the developments. The Home Affairs Committee meets on 13 January 2022, when the situation will be clarified.
