The Minister of Health, Michael Hadjipantelas, will return with a revised text and specific changes to the bill on dangerous and infectious diseases, which the Parliamentary Health Committee has reached on Thursday.
The Minister responsible pledged to table amendments to the bill in two weeks, so that the article debate can continue.
The bill on dangerous infectious diseases came before the Health Committee session, during which AKEL's suggestions for changes to the legislation were discussed at length, in the presence of the competent minister.
In a statement after the session, the Health Minister said that the aim is to amend the bill, bearing in mind the pandemic we have been experiencing for the last two years.
"We have listened carefully to all parties, to the concerns of MPs and we will come back with some changes that were discussed today," he said.
Asked to comment on MPs' concerns about the breadth of powers this legislation gives to the Minister of Health, as well as concerns that Parliament could be "put on ice" with this bill, Mr. Hadjipantelas said that "our aim is not to put the Parliament on ice or stop its activities", noting that "under a new provision that was discussed, following a proposal by AKEL, before any pandemic begins, approval will be given by the Parliament and the Minister of Health will periodically inform the body".
Health Committee President Savvia Orphanidou said the law on dangerous infectious diseases needed to be modernised as it has been in force since 1932, adding that "we need to enrich this bill with our own experiences of the pandemic in the last two years so it is important to modernise it."
At the same time, he said that the aim "is to maintain the vigilance that exists today in the government issuing decrees so that it can respond immediately and in a timely manner, as it has had to do several times in the last two years, to the pandemic with specific and concrete measures."
"In this direction, I think that we have come up with specific changes on the bill so in two weeks the ministry itself has committed that it will bring and submit a revised text and all of us will continue the article-by-article discussion," he said.
AKEL Parliamentary Spokesman George Loukaides spoke of "abrasive and extremely dangerous" legislation.
As he stressed, "the government insisted on a procedure in which all human rights could be horizontally restricted without the approval of the Parliament, while a provision is incorporated into the legislation that allows the executive power of the day to even close down and freeze the functioning of the legislative and judicial powers."
He also noted that the Legal Service insisted on "some unacceptable provisions that are more draconian than in the case of war",
but as he added "fortunately the Minister of Health showed a willingness to consult and did not listen to the obsessions of the Legal Service".
He also said that the Health Minister pledged to deal positively with several of AKEL's proposals discussed today in committee, but noted that he refused to specify which human rights are subject to restriction, which is done in the event of war.
He even said that this "remains the most dangerous point in the legislation", which he said "the Minister did not accept to discuss."
He expressed hope that the government would have second thoughts.
DIKO MP Panicos Leonidou said his party believes that "the executive, which is the power that must operate on a day-to-day basis on all matters that belong to it, based on the powers granted to it by the Constitution and the laws of the Cypriot state, is mainly responsible for the operation and non-spread of this pandemic."
As he noted, "other powers must monitor and intervene when and where necessary to safeguard individual freedoms."
"In the past period, unfortunately, there have been instances where there has been both abuse of power and abuse of rights, but we have to point out that there was inexperience, there was lack of knowledge and some decisions may have been rushed," he said.
However, he added that "on the whole, I must point out that in general the course and development of the pandemic was positive for our country," adding that "the way and the measures taken were in the positive direction."
In addition, he said that there must be the co-functioning of the three powers of the state, both preventive and repressive, noting that "in order for this safeguarding of rights to be possible, there must certainly be a synergy of the three powers of the state, namely the executive, the legislature and the judiciary."
ELAM MP, Christos Christou, called on the Ministry of Health and the Government to withdraw this bill, noting that "in a future situation it should come back with the amendments and changes submitted by several parties and other organized bodies".
He said that "this bill restricts human freedoms," to add that "the provisions which are outlined through the articles of the bill create too many problems in their implementation."
In a press release issued after the meeting, the EPP said that "any decisions to deal with emergency situations, such as the pandemic, are judged for their correctness or not, by their effect and not by their intention."
Regarding today's debate in the Health Committee on the modernisation of the legislation on the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases, the EPP reiterates that "the Parliament has every right and should proceed to further modernise the law regarding the framework for issuing the relevant orders" and that "issuing orders on the basis of the legislation is the exclusive right of the executive".
"The possible involvement of the Parliament in the approval or issuance of ordinances would effectively violate the separation of powers and interference in the work of the executive, but would also lead to unnecessary delays in issuance with consequent effects on the implementation of measures and possible burdens on the health of citizens," it notes.
For the definition of infectious diseases, it says that "there must be a classification of these - and not on the basis of a list - since it is not possible to predict in the near future which ones will be classified and which ones will be declassified as such."
Source: CNA
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