Filenews 3 March 2022 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Today, the future of the reform of Local Government is being judged before the Plenum of the Parliament. The composition of the new formats, their number and whether there will eventually be a referendum or referendums (at the risk of indirectly overturning the whole project), are some of the important questions of the whole project.
The give-and-take has continued until yesterday, as it has been throughout the last period, and pressure from local actors has intensified in recent days, but whether they have "taken hold" will be seen when MPs raise their hands during the vote. What the government is interested in is to limit the number of new schemes to around 17.
Apart from the composition of the municipalities for which hard battles were fought, not only between the parties but also within them, the referendums were and still are a point of contention, since the government fears that their conduct and especially if they are decided to be held in each local authority (instead of a single one for the whole territory) will blow up the reform by the back door.
Between the parties there are differences with DISY being against their conduct and AKEL, EDEK and Ecologists favouring the holding not of a referendum (which the government had also accepted) but of local referendums, which increases the risk of reversals.
In fact, an amendment was also tabled according to which if a municipality does not choose to join the new schemes, it should not be dissolved but should continue to operate autonomously as it does today.
For its part, the DIKO submitted an amendment based on which "for the purposes of establishing and establishing the new municipalities, within the framework of the proposed reform, it will be preceded by the holding of a Pancyprian referendum, so that the voters of the affected municipalities and communities, as well as of the municipalities that are not proposed to be united with other local authorities, will be asked about all the proposed mergers".
Based on the correlations, the balance is tipped in favour of holding a referendum or referendums. If the DIKO insists to the end on a single referendum, then it is possible that AKEL, EDEK and the Ecologists will vote for the amendment of the DIKO, while if the DIKO is convinced, we will be led to many local referendums.
The parties AKEL, EDEK and Ecologists propose that the following reservation be added to the bill: "It is understood that, no local authority existing on the date of entry into force of this (new) Law... it may be merged with another local authority and be a municipal district, without having carried out... In the relevant explanation of the proposal of the three parties, it is stated that "the proposed amendment aims to determine that no existing local authority may be merged with another local authority and be a municipal district, without having conducted local referendums. In addition, it is intended that municipalities that do not merge with other local authorities continue to function as municipalities in the form established under the repealed law, provided that local referenda have been held." In other words, the municipalities in which no referendums will be held will continue to operate as they are.
The parties AKEL, EDEK and Ecologists indicate that, "local referenda are called for the purpose of verifying the wish of the registered voters of each local authority to declare a new municipality in a municipal district". The three parties seek for the citizens of each local authority to decide on the municipality in which they live instead of reform for all municipalities, which does not affect their own lives.
The DIPA submitted an amendment based on which "the aim is to abolish the provisions of the bill that provide for the holding of referendums for the purposes of the proposed associations of local authorities". The proposal is similar to the amendment tabled by DISY.
AKEL also tabled an amendment which "aims to determine that the Council of Ministers will announce the holding of referenda by May 31, 2023".
Proposal to increase the number of municipal councillors
Of interest is the amendment of the DIKO to increase the number of municipal councillors from 26, which is currently 30, when the voters exceed 30,000. Also interesting is the amendment of EDEK with which not only the permanent residents of the municipality but also those who work in it can claim the office of mayor, etc. According to EDEK, the amendment "aims at the effective implementation of the provision on the basis of which a person may apply for mayor, deputy mayor or councillor to the municipality within the boundaries of which he has his/her business premises or primarily practises his/her profession or profession, given that that municipality has essentially become the centre of its activities'.
Moreover, the Ecologists tabled an amendment which "aims at the application of simple proportional representation in the electoral process for the purposes of electing municipal councillors. In particular, it is stipulated that the municipality will be considered at the first allocation of seats as a single constituency and the voting will take place within the municipal boundaries, instead of at the level of the municipal district, as proposed in the bill."
In the context of simple proportional representation, the DIKO has tabled an amendment which determines that the municipality will be considered in the second allocation of seats as a single constituency and the vote will take place within the municipal boundaries, instead of at the level of the municipal district, as proposed in the bill.
AKEL also tabled an amendment which aims to delete a provision concerning the indirect exercise of administrative supervision of the Minister of Interior over municipalities.
Finally, the DIKO and EDEK have tabled an amendment which aims to delete the provisions of the bill regarding the transfer to the municipalities of the competences currently exercised by the school tax offices.
