Regarding the loss of voting rights by UK expats, I thought you might be interested in the following text extracted from a letter from the Ombudsman:
I refer to the complaint you submitted to my office concerning the loss of voting rights of British citizens who reside in Cyprus, since they are no longer considered European citizens after the exit of Britain from the European Union, and I would like to inform you that I have concluded its investigation.
Specifically, and notwithstanding the fact that, the relevant legal framework that refers to the rights of European citizens to participate in local lection of States members to the EU that they reside in, is no longer applicable in the case of British nationals. I cited your positions on the matter to the General Director of the Ministry of Interior, and requested to be informed on his relevant views and positions.
The Ministry of Interior informed me of the following:
- Following the assessment of a request by the UK that British citizens who reside in Cyprus would maintain their electoral rights after Brexit, a relevant Proposal of the Ministry was submitted to the Council of Ministers [CoM] within the framework of other issues related to the bilateral relationship of the two countries
- This proposal was examined by the CoM in December 2020 and it was decided that British citizens that had maintained permanent residency rights until December 31 2020, would be granted electoral rights equivalent to the rights of European citizens, under the condition that no legal obstacles would occur by the implementation of this decision
- The Ministry then brought the matter before the Attorney General of the Republic and requested his relevant views, with respect to possible legal complications that may occur
- The Attorney General concluded that, based on the Constitution of the Republic, voting rights in Cyprus are strictly connected to the Cypriot citizenship and not to the status of permanent residency in the country, with the exception of European citizens as provided by EU legislation, which prevails constitutional provisions
- Subsequently, the Attorney General informed the Ministry that, based on the above, British citizens who reside in Cyprus could not maintain their electoral rights after Brexit and that any possible amendment of the legal framework aiming to grant such a right, would possibly be considered unconstitutional
- For the same reasons and based on the provisions of the Law on Communities, the Attorney General also concluded that the persons who were members of local Community Councils [in total 4 persons] were no longer eligible to remain in office
-Based on the above, the CoM recalled its previous decision upon the matter
- In light of the development the Ministry proceeded to all relevant actions for the amendment of the electoral catalogues appropriately, informing in writing all the persons affected
Having said the above, and even though I acknowledge the significant contribution of the persons affected by the above decisions in local life and communities, there are no grounds for my further intervention in the matter.
My concluding decision is that, based on the developments that followed Brexit, the relevant provisions of the Constitution and EU legislation, as well as the relevant decisions of the Attorney General of the Republic and the Councils of Ministers, whose decisions I have no competence to examine/challenge under the law which determines my competencies [1], there are no grounds for a different approach to the matter.
[1] Article 2 of the Commissioner for Administration Laws of 1991-2014
