The Plenum of the Parliament unanimously rejected the afternoon the President's reference to the law he had passed on November 3 on control of officials employed after retirement that included judges, the Attorney General, and the Assistant Attorney General. The referral was made in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on November 17.
The law concerned the control of employment in the private sector by former state officials and judges and certain former employees of the public and wider public sector. The law, passed unanimously by the Parliament, increased the number of controlled state employees who would be required to obtain leave before taking up employment in the private sector after leaving their position in the public sector or the wider public sector. The law was thought to act as a deterrent to corruption and controversy.
Former state employees include the Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General, as well as judges. The PDP believes, with the referral, that the change in their terms of employment can only be deemed unconstitutional.
MPs' statements
DISY MP Demetris Demetriou said his party does not accept the referral and the PDP's reading of it as unconstitutional and hitting an article of the constitution on separation of powers.
He said the House, through the law it passed, did not change the terms of employment but pointed out the obligation of these officials, as all civil servants of A13 grade and above have. He stressed that transparency and accountability are supreme values.
Andreas Pasiourtides, an AKEL MP, said that if the PM listened to the arguments of the Parliament he would be convinced and that it is not possible for some people to claim the privileges of the position even after retirement and carry them. He also said that "we have made the separation of powers a rubber band and we pull it as it suits us."
AKEL's Aristos Damianou said that if the President does not sign the law and a reference is made to the Supreme Court, it will create conditions of a blatant conflict of interest and called on him "not to fall into an institutional faux pas".
From the DIKO, Chrisis Pantelidis said that the issue has a political dimension and will be resolved if the President accepts the decision of the Parliament and signs the law.
Alexandra Attalidou Alexandra Attalidou, MP for the Ecologists-Civic Co-operation, said that those of us who hold office should be particularly sensitive to issues of transparency, accountability, equality and egalitarianism.
The invocation of the Constitution, he said, is secondary to the fact that everyone is equal before the law and the judiciary, adding that when the President hands over the presidency "by the tatsa" he should not have to refer this legislation.
Marinos[/B] Mousiuttas, a Democratic Party MP, said this law includes issues that apply to all government officials and if it goes Supreme, the judges themselves will decide for themselves.
Independent MP Andreas Themistocles said this legislation has nothing to do with the constitutional rights of those affected and that the issue is purely moral.
Source: CNA
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