in-cyprus 17 February 2023 - by Annie Charalambous
Educationists in Cyprus are believed to enjoy most annual leave considering the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays but a number of MPs record less working days than those stipulated by the Constitution.
The Constitution of the Republic, specifically Article 74, states that ‘the regular session of the House of Representatives shall last for three to six months per year, as the House of Representatives may decide’.
That is, three months is the minimum period and the maximum is limited to six months, in addition, however, to plenary sittings and meetings of parliamentary committees.
Nonetheless, indicative of how Parliament – with the exemption of Parliament staff who are working normally – is the schedule of the parliamentary committees, some of which have not met since November 2022.
And others last met in December or even in January (once) to discuss either budgets or bill referrals from the President of the Republic.
It is now mid-February and due to the two rounds of the recent presidential elections all indications are that some committees will meet again towards the end of the month.
In other words, some MPs will appear in the committees they sit on three months after the last time they have done so.
