A proposal for a law to ensure the effectiveness of parliamentary control is expected to be submitted to Parliament on Thursday.
The proposal is co-signed by MPs Irini Charalambidou of AKEL and Kostis Efstathiou of the Social Democrats' Movement EDEK, while other MPs may also sign it.
The aim of the proposed law is to ensure the effectiveness of the exercise of parliamentary control, especially after the government's position, based on an opinion of the Attorney General of the Republic, that government ministers are not subject to parliamentary control and are not obliged to appear before parliamentary committees, contrary to the established practice of recent decades.
In her remarks in Parliament, Ms. Charalambidou said that in view of the fact that there are many absences we are proceeding with a relevant amendment to the Law on the Submission of Data and Information to the House of Representatives and Parliamentary Committees of 1985, with the intention of making parliamentary scrutiny more effective.
According to Ms. Charalambidou, "the proposal has to do with the presence of state officials before Parliamentary Committees," noting that "the President of the Republic and the Judges are excluded from the proposed law."
"All others, including the Attorney General of the Republic, are included. There is also a special provision in case there is an ongoing trial, precisely to protect the proceedings," he said.
In addition, he said that "the Parliament must be informed about the way various cases were handled," noting that this strengthens transparency and the role of the Parliament.
In response to a question, Charalambidou said that "there are many times that we have had to meet without the political bosses because they decided not to appear or they choose not to appear in other committees."
"There is a misconception that they have to appear. It was an established practice. Now it is being done on the basis of a proposed law and an amendment to existing legislation," he concluded.
Source: CNA
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