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The Plenum of the Parliament approved the three bills for the reform of local government, creating a total of 20 municipalities across Cyprus.
The Municipalities Law was passed by a majority with 52 votes for and 4 against by the EPP, while the Communities and District Collectives Laws were passed unanimously by the Plenum of the Parliament. Explaining the EPP's negative vote on the Municipalities Bill, party President Marinos Sizopoulos said that although there are positive elements in the law, they cannot vote for it since the principles of simple unadulterated proportional representation have been violated.
DISY's amendment[/B] not to hold referendums for the purposes of the proposed mergers of local authorities was also voted through, as well as other amendments, some of which concerned changes to the mergers. Five municipalities are created in Nicosia, four in Limassol, five in Larnaca, four in Paphos and two in Famagusta.
- Historic day for local government. The 20 new municipalities
- "A historic day" for local government, said the Minister of Interior
[*]These are the reasons why the EPP voted against the TA bill. As reported by Marinos Sizopoulos
The purpose of the bills is to revise the current legislative framework governing local government, with the ultimate aim of improving the regulatory, supervisory and coordinating framework of the local government system.
The purpose of the Municipalities Law of 2020 is, inter alia, to modernise the current legislative framework so that municipalities gain administrative and financial autonomy to become financially and operationally viable as local authorities.
Similarly, the Communities Act of 2020 aims to amend the existing law in order to modernize certain provisions and introduce arrangements for the provision of common services by certain communities through the establishment and operation of local service clusters, such as the collection of household waste, the provision of health and sanitation services and the regulation of traffic, among others.
The purpose of the Provincial Clusters Act of 2015 is to enact legislation for the establishment and The Bill originally provided for the issuance of planning and building permits by provincial governments, however, during its debate, the relevant provisions were deleted so that this power was exercised by local authorities rather than by these organizations.
Amendments to the Law on Municipalities
In the Law on Municipalities, an amendment by DISY to remove the provisions of the bill providing for the holding of referendums for the purposes of the proposed mergers of local authorities was voted for by a majority.
An amendment by DIKO to increase the number of municipal councillors in the new municipalities by four was also voted for unanimously. The party also unanimously passed an amendment to exclude from counting, for purposes of applying the provision that provides for term limits on the office of mayor or councillor, the term of office of a person which expires on the last day of the month in which the next general municipal elections are held. Another DIKO amendment that passed unanimously aims for the Division Committee of each municipal division of the new municipalities to have at least five members. If fewer than five councillors are elected in the municipal district concerned, the vacancy will be filled by other persons who will take over as members of this committee.
An amendment was also unanimously passed by the EPP to allow a person to run for mayor, deputy mayor or councillor in the municipality within the boundaries of which he has his place of business or is principally engaged in his profession or trade, given that the municipality in question has effectively become the centre of his activities.
An amendment by the PPP - Coalition of Democratic Forces was passed by a majority in order to clarify the proposed regulations concerning the second allocation of seats in each municipal district. In particular, it is specified that in the second allocation of seats the municipality will be considered as one constituency and that candidates will not be required to obtain a certain percentage of the total number of valid votes. Also, a party amendment that passed unanimously introduces provisions so that, in the event that an employee who held the position of director, head of technical services or head of financial services is transferred to the new municipality and if it is not feasible to place him/her in a position whose duties and responsibilities are similar to those of the position held, that employee may be transferred to another municipality.
An AKEL-DIKO-Ecologists amendment was passed unanimously to introduce regulations regarding the free parking of electric vehicles and vehicles driven by an electric motorcycle in a municipal parking area where the parking of vehicles is not controlled by a mechanism or other system for controlling the entry and exit of vehicles.
Regarding the amendments on municipality mergers, the DISY amendment on the inclusion of the Strovolos Municipality in the new Nicosia Municipality and the AKEL amendment on the renaming of the proposed new Municipality of Latsia-Geriu into the Municipality of Athalassa and the inclusion of the Municipality of Aglantzia were rejected.
The House voted by a majority in favour of the DISY-AKEL amendment to include the Armenochori community in the Municipality of Eastern Limassol.
Also voted was a DISY amendment to remove the communities of Ayios Theodoros (Larnaca) and Kato Dry from the new Lefkara Municipality and an AKEL amendment to remove Kofinou from the Lefkara Municipality.
Also voted by majority was an AKEL amendment to rename the municipality of Paralimnii into the municipality of Paralimnii-Derynia.
Amendments to the Communities Law
In the Communities Law, an AKEL amendment was adopted by a majority, introducing a provision to exempt persons seeking election in occupied communities from the application of the regulation limiting the terms of office of community mayor or community council member.
A DIKO amendment was also adopted to exclude, for the purposes of applying the provision providing for limitation of terms of office of mayor or council member, the term of office of a person which expires on the last day of the month in which the next general community elections will be held.
With regard to community mergers, amendments of the DISY AKEL-DIKO-ELAM parties were passed for the inclusion of the community of Ayios Theodoros (Larnaca) in Complex E of Larnaca district, for the inclusion of Kato Dry in Complex D and for the inclusion of Kofinou in Complex B.
DIKO's amendment to transfer the municipality of Koilis from Complex C to Complex F of Pafos district was also approved.
Amendments to the Law on District Clusters
In the Law on District Clusters, an amendment by DIKO for direct election of the President of each Council by the electorate of the relevant electoral district was approved.
Source: CNA
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