"As we know, after 10 years of discussions, obstacles and concerns, it was possible through a difficult and laborious effort and through the cooperation of the Interior Committee, the entire House of Representatives, the Executive, the Union of Municipalities, the Union of Communities and many other bodies, to pass the reform of local self-government. This reform is not the sum of all the convergences of all those affected, but it is the lowest common denominator" says Aristos Damianou.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of the Interior, stresses that "we also had and have disagreements with a number of provisions of the reform. However, we have seen the big picture. And the big picture says that Cypriot society needs this reform. The local government itself needs it in order to serve rather than inconvenience citizens.
The impeachment of the President of the Republic unfortunately opens a Pandora's box - not to say a Pandora's box - because a number of those affected who also disagree with aspects of the reform, with scenarios of mergers, clustering, are now legitimized both morally and politically to reopen and reopen these issues, which were over with the enactment".
At the same time, he notes, "I regret to note that a number of arguments contained in the referral itself are politically incorrect and legally undocumented. I want to give an example. The President of the Republic asserts in the impeachment that the determination of administrative boundaries, the determination of municipalities and communities in general, is the responsibility of the Executive. Well, if that were the case, then why did they sit in Parliament and expect Parliament, to which they made repeated appeals, to pass the reform? It is obvious that the legislative framework is voted on by the Legislature. Secondly, if this argument of the Government were to be accepted, that it is their responsibility and that differentiating the Government's scenarios is unconstitutional and politically unacceptable, in the same and similar way I wonder why the Government is not protesting the creation of the new Aradippou Municipality, which was outside the scenarios of the Government, further strains the budget and obviously by the same logic it should be judged, as the new Municipality of Golden City and the new Municipality of Akamas as renamed the Municipality of Peyia are judged by the referral? Therefore, the lack of documentation leads us to the conclusion that there were other reasons for the referral, which are obviously related either to political expediency or to any other selfish interests."
At the same time, and because we participated in an arduous process to get the reform passed, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly appeal to the President of the Republic - as Chairman of the Committee of the Interior, as one of the many people who collaborated in getting this reform passed - to think twice and more wisely. He should withdraw the referral in order to limit the legitimate reactions of others who also disagree with merger scenarios, and we should proceed immediately with the process of implementing the reform. A difficult effort that will take time. For us, this is the big picture. To save what was passed, to get on an implementation track to deal with the side effects the next day.
"I want to be honest. With the Government's logic of challenging aspects of reform, no one can stop any colleague from tabling bills the next day that challenge scripts to reopen a debate that should have ended with passage. I therefore reiterate my call, for the sake of the wider public interest, for the good of local government, for the survival of the reform unscathed, for the President of the Republic to proceed with the withdrawal of this particular referral," he concludes.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
