[Cyprus Times] Local referendums divide Municipalities and Communities... silence on the number

The possibility of holding local referendums on the reform of local government is divisive - The Union of Municipalities is against it and maintains a neutral stance on the number of new members regarding the intention of the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior to include in the bills reform of local government, the issue of holding local referendums.[/B] On the one hand, the Association of Municipalities adopts the position of the Government and the Home Secretary not to hold local referendums, while on the other hand the Association of Communities considers it necessary to hold them.[/P]

In a statement to the Cyprus Times, the President of the Union of Municipalities, Andreas Vyras, said that their position as passed by the General Assembly of the Union of Municipalities, by a majority, is that there should be no local referendums, nor any other form of referendum in relation to the reform.

Beyond that, Mr. Vyras believes that there is room for understanding in the Plenum of the Parliament to find a solution so that the reform is not endangered.

Asked whether he believes that there will be a problem in the implementation of the reform if local referendums are held, Vyras replied. That is, if 20 or 17 referendums are held, there is also this possibility."

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He added that he is not afraid of referendums, especially if there are 17 or 20, and that he believes that there will be no problem with the reform, while noting that something unanimous should be found by the 24th of the month, within the framework of cooperation and the will to implement the reform.

Asked to comment on what number of new municipalities the Union of Municipalities prefers for the reform, Mr. Vyras clarified that they have no position on the amount of the number, since they have decided from the beginning that they will not get involved in such a discussion. "We said as the Union of Municipalities that we will not get involved in a discussion whether there will be 14 or 17 or 18 municipalities," he clarified.

Vyras also stressed that he believes that until February 24 there is the necessary time and the necessary consensus and will must be shown by all parties for the reform to pass.

Information and local referendums demanded by communities

The Union of Communities is strongly opposed to the position of the Union of Communities on the chapter on holding local referendums, with Chairman, Andreas Kitromilides, telling the Cyprus Times that their position has always been in favour of holding referendums.

According to Mr. Kitromilides, "there should be local referendums. It is an issue which concerns exclusively the residents of communities or even of municipalities that are merging with other municipalities. We should certainly listen and hear the views of those who will be affected and they should be properly informed about what these bills envisage and how they will affect them in their daily lives."

"Because," he explained, "we have to say that no one guarantees us that what is said about better services that will be closer to the citizen or cheaper services will apply; our position is that it will not apply and it will be worse, especially for residents of communities that are merging with municipalities."

That is why a clear information should be given to these residents and they themselves should decide what should be done with their community separately, the president of the Union of Communities clarifies."

Asked to comment on the Attorney General's opinion and the Interior Minister's reports that if local referendums are held, there will be a collapse of the reform, Mr. Kitromilides said that they themselves do not believe that there cannot be a collapse of the reform for the reason I told you earlier.

"Maybe what they are afraid of is to go for information and local referendums because no one will be as they present things, in the end. We believe it will increase the cost to the residents of the communities," he added.

Kitromilides also indicated that no reform can be cancelled because some of the 50 communities that are discussing becoming municipalities will not do so.

In fact, he explained that 30 communities have already accepted their amalgamation and the remaining 20 to 25 are opposing the reform. "If out of these communities, if they are informed, there are some left who will oppose and not vote, I don't think there is a problem for the reform not to go ahead. Some communities will be left out of the reform," Kitromilides added.

Asked about the ongoing dialogue between the parties on the number of municipalities, he replied that they believe that the fewer the number of municipalities, the more benefit there will be in keeping more communities in operation-autonomous and more number in the countryside.

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