The message that the time has come to reform local government was sent jointly by the President of the Republic, the Minister of Interior and the President of the Union of Municipalities from the podium of the 38th Annual General Assembly of the Union of Municipalities.
In his address, President Anastasiades spoke of a regression in the discussions on the reform, holding the parliamentary parties accountable if the reform of the Local Authorities fails.
"Recently there has been a regression, if you like, in what was considered as progress when the postponement of the electoral procedures (in Local Government) to 2024 was voted for. It is unthinkable to insist on numbers that in essence will not bring reform but deregulation," he said.
President Anastasiades said that studies show the need to reduce the number of municipalities from the current 30 in order to achieve economic and administrative self-sufficiency: "What is important is to reach the levels of local self-government of local governments as they are in every other advanced European country."
"Therefore, my appeal to the political forces is to escape from the kingdoms," he said, adding that under the current conditions and under the current demands of the citizens, " we cannot afford to fight like the alpha party, and not to be misunderstood, whether it is called DISY, AKEL, DIKO or the other parties, the pursuit is how to hold local kingdoms".
As he said, what is important is to empower municipalities when they have administrative and financial autonomy.
"If we ignore what citizens want," he continued, "and try to multiply municipalities or minimize municipalities under consolidation by simply keeping some acquisitions, we will only fail to achieve what was the goal from the beginning, the service of citizens, the claim of citizens to have a higher quality, better quality of life but also to see specific visions of mayors or city councils realized."
He added that the empowerment of municipalities is also for the benefit of the whole and the political forces "which ultimately will be accountable if we fail to reform local government", noting that the Recovery and Resilience Plan includes the release of €241 million for the benefit of local communities as long as the reform is carried out as timed.
He said that "the single message is that it is urgent to reform Local Government here and now."
In addition, the President said that the government had no "dogmatic position" on the number of municipalities, recalling that the government had moved from the original number of 14 municipalities to 17, and said that some parties wanted that number to be increased further. "Let us stick to what was the central agreement at the beginning of the consultation, the closest possible adoption of the number of municipalities based on the studies that the experts at times," he added.
"Either we trust the experts or we trust our party benefits and party kingdoms, it is something that all the political powers must decide to end a pending issue that, I repeat, the country needs," he concluded.
And Interior Minister Nikos Nouris stressed that what is required from the reform "is that any new entity that will emerge be distinguished by specific characteristics based on scientific criteria".
"It is not possible," he said, "after years of discussion, study and argumentation, to make recommendations to maintain certain entities that are documented as not being able to sustain their existence under their current operating regime."
"It is not possible", he continued, "to submit proposals for their selective and undocumented merger with municipalities and communities that have nothing to offer them, simply to gain temporary political or partisan benefits".
According to Mr. Nouris, the submission of certain proposals by representatives of parliamentary parties and the undocumented increase in the number of new entities, from 17 provided for in the government bill, to 20 with the possibility of a further increase, I believe with certainty that if it is put into practice, it will jeopardize the effort we all made together, risking the very viability of local government.
"The government, far from behind the scenes and party games, continues to maintain the view that our balanced proposal, the result of our consultation, for the maximum formation of 17 new demoi, is the best under the circumstances, because it ensures the sustainability of the new institution with measurable criteria," he stressed.
For his part, the President of the Union of Municipalities and Mayor of Larakka, Andreas Vyras made it clear that the reform of local government is the big stake for the Union of Municipalities, stressing that "without reform we cannot have a future as the Local Government of Cyprus."
"We have reached the end of the road. The reform of local government must be implemented, there is no room or time for any more postponement or delay", he said, adding that "it is unacceptable to waste the postponement of elections for the sake of an endless debate", he stressed.
He said that the need for local authorities, which will be administratively and financially independent, functional and with expanded powers and authority, takes precedence over any other pending issues or disputes.
Vyras referred to the other challenge facing municipalities, which is the implementation of an integrated digital system for Cyprus' municipalities, namely the Evagoras project. "This is really a mega project that envisages the digitalization of all procedures of the Municipalities as well as the implementation to the citizens of a wide range of services", he said.
Finally, Andreas Kitromilides, President of the Union of Communities stated in his address that the Communities are ready for the enhancement of services between them within the framework of the interconnection of services, which are the solution to reduce costs and improve services.
He said that Communities must be kept alive to give back to the place, adding that we support those communities that consent themselves to merge with municipalities and can do so.
"We want to believe that for the issues that remain open and are being discussed in the last sessions of the Interior Committee of the Parliament and by the parties themselves, there is good will from everyone to find the best possible solutions and convergences so that together we can proceed with the reform of local government which we all want and which this country really needs," he concluded.
Source: CNA
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