Cyprus Mail 7 March 2025 - by Iole Damaskinos
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| Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, at a meeting with the President and members of the Union of Cyprus Communities |
As part of the sweeping local government reform, the role of traditional mukhtars – loosely translated as community leaders – has come under scrutiny, with the interior ministry working to modernise regulations.
According to ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kyriakou, the legislation enabling the restructuring did not remove the provision for appointing mukhtars, making their appointments legally valid.
By the time the restructuring took effect in July 2024, the role of mukhtar had in many cases been reduced to that of a municipal employee handling notary duties.
“They do not receive a fixed monthly salary,” Kyriakou explained. “Any income they earn comes from document certification, based on a fee list used by notary publics.”
In larger communities, many mukhtars were re-elected as deputy mayors, while in smaller villages, they either continued in their role or were renamed as deputy mayors due to a lack of competitors.
This has created a state of confusion, with 209 mukhtars appointed but no clear framework defining their legal status, funding, or responsibilities.
The coordinating committee for deputy mayors had called for the suspension of mukhtar appointments until parliament clarifies the legal framework governing their duties as well as their own.
Critics have long charged that the role of mukhtars – sometimes derisively called “local lords” – is outdated. They have been accused of wielding excessive influence over real estate and other financial matters in their communities. Some reportedly earned up to €1,000 per month from minor services that are expected to become obsolete with digitalisation.
Their appointments have also been linked to political party deals, confirmed by Kyriakou, who referred to these as “negotiations” in comments to Alpha TV.
Nonetheless, in smaller, depopulated or remote villages, such several in the Paphos district, a number of diligent mukhtars had still performed functions other than that of notary, overseeing essential practicalities.
These included repairing water pipes, securing state funds for stray cat neutering, arranging sanitation services, maintaining historical monuments, assisting elderly residents and organising social events.
Mukhtars in such villages had told the Cyprus Mail that centralised governance would lead to delays in services, particularly in water supply and waste collection.
“People won’t know who to turn to for help or who is responsible,” one mukhtar warned, predicting overlapping responsibilities and administrative bottlenecks. In some instances, particularly with regards to water provision, this seems to have borne out as duties are indeed unclear and some district administrations (Eoa’s) have yet to manage their staffing.
The role of mukhtar (Hellenised to mukhtari) is said to have been introduced to Cyprus in the Ottoman period during the 16th century and the word means “chosen” in Arabic.
Traditionally, mukhtars, alongside village priests, oversaw local disputes and liaised with state officials, in a role akin to tribal elders.
As with any such system, this spawned both benevolent and problematic figures. In the past, mukhtars were often selected through informal voting or communal consensus, a process that would be seen as opaque today.
Under British colonial rule, the role became more regulated, with set criteria for selection, including an age range of 25 to 60. Mukhtars had to be literate, wealthy enough to host visiting officials, and free of serious criminal convictions. Interestingly, religious leaders, teachers, doctors, and government employees were barred from the position.
During the Eoka uprising, many mukhtars resigned in protest after the British sought to further limit local communities’ say in their selection. Following independence in 1960, the role was reinstated, but community councils were introduced to curtail their powers in the name of democratisation.
In the wake of the local government restructuring, the future of the mukhtars is under debate, as authorities continue to grapple with teething problems stemming from the transition to modern European governance.
