Filenews 8 March 2022 - by Angelos Nikolaou
An order prohibiting the use of apartments as unhealthy and unsuitable in which asylum seekers live, by the Municipality of Pafos, against a company linked to the complex for which the same prohibition was issued by the District Officer of Pafos in Chloraka, may overturn the decisions and law passed by the House of Representatives in relation to the extension of the term of office of the local authorities until 2024.
According to the lawyer of the Applicant Society, Nicoletta Charalambidou, an appeal was filed by the owner company against a decree of the Municipality of Pafos before the Administrative Court, in the context of which the issue of the legality of the Mayor and Municipal Council of Pafos is raised, among other things, since their term of office expired on 31/12/2021 and was extended by law without holding elections as defined in Article 173 of the Constitution.
This article explicitly states that five municipalities are created in the largest cities of Cyprus, including Paphos, whose councils are elected by the electors of the cities. The appeal challenges, among other things, the constitutionality of the law which provides for the extension of the term of office of the municipal councils and the mayor, due to the state's decision to proceed with the reform of local government.
According to the Applicant Society, the decisions of the Municipality of Pafos are illegal since the term of office of its members has expired. He also mentions that there is an incredible coordination of all the competent authorities, both at central and local level, with the adoption of various measures, including the criminalization and intimidation of the owners of the company, with the ultimate goal of expelling the asylum seekers from Chloraka and Paphos, as it emerges from the public statements of both the commune Chlorakas, as well as the mayor of Pafos, who, on the occasion of the war in Ukraine, favour the reception of white and European refugees, while at the same time expelling refugees from Syria and other countries from their places of residence.
According to the company's lawyer, any success of the appeal in relation to the issue of the constitutionality of the law concerning the extension of the term of office of the municipal councils, will render invalid all their decisions from 31/12/2021 onwards, with all the consequent consequences for the Local Government. The case has been set for hearing by the Administrative Court on 22/3/2022.
