In the torment of more than sixty amendments,submitted by the parties, the local government reform will be submitted on Thursday to the plenary session of the Parliament.
After years of debate in Parliament, the three bills relating to local government reform, namely the Municipalities Act 2020, the Communities (Amendment) Act 2020 and the District Collectives Act 2015, are headed for a vote.
At the same time, 60 amendments[/B] tabled by political parties to these bills will be put to a vote in the House. Many of them concern the composition of the new municipalities and clusters after the mergers, with the landscape remaining fluid until the last minute.
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 2020 aims to amend the Communities Act to modernise certain provisions of the Act and to introduce arrangements for the provision of shared services by certain communities through the establishment and operation of local service clusters, such as, inter alia, the collection of household waste, the provision of health and sanitation services and the regulation of traffic.
The purpose of the Provincial Clusters Act, 2015, is to legislate for the establishment and operation of provincial clusters, i.e. a provincial self-governing body in each province, with responsibilities exercised at the provincial level relating to water supply, operation of sewerage systems and solid waste management. The bill originally provided for planning and building permits to be issued by the provincial self-government bodies, but during its discussion the relevant provisions were deleted, so that these powers would be exercised by the local authorities instead of by these bodies. At the same time, the third bill was further amended so that the councils of the provincial self-government bodies would be constituted by indirect election to be held among the already elected municipal and communal councils.
Main amendments
Some sixty amendments tabled by the parties will be submitted to the plenary tomorrow for a vote. Most of the amendments tabled by the parties concern mergers of municipalities and communities and it remains to be seen which ones will prevail and what the final number will be.
Other key amendments concern, among other things, the holding or not of referendums on the proposed mergers.
An AKEL-EDEK-Oecologues amendment aims to specify that the referendums which will be held will be of local importance, so that voters of each local authority that will be merged into a new municipality will be asked about the change concerning the local authority concerned, rather than about the whole of the proposed mergers.
Another amendment by the three parties is intended to specify that no existing local authority may merge with another local authority to form a borough without first holding a local referendum. In addition, it is intended that municipalities which do not merge with other local authorities shall continue to operate as municipalities in the form established under the repealed law, provided that local referendums have been held.
An amendment tabled by DISY proposes to repeal the provisions of the bill which provide for the holding of referendums for the purposes of the proposed mergers of local authorities. In the same vein, an amendment by DISY proposes to repeal the provisions of the bill that provide for the holding of referendums.
Another amendment by DISY proposes to revise certain provisions regarding the establishment of new municipalities to include what was provided for in the original bill, before including provisions for the holding of referendums.
AKEL has tabled an amendment to specify that the Council of Ministers will call referendums until 31 May 2023.
DIKO tabled an amendment to specify that for the purposes of the establishment and creation of new municipalities under the proposed reform, a nationwide referendum will be held beforehand, so that voters of affected municipalities and communities, as well as municipalities which are not proposed to be merged with other local authorities, will be consulted on all proposed mergers.
A DIKO and EDEK amendment aims to delete the provisions of the bill regarding the transfer to municipalities of powers currently exercised by school tax offices.
In addition, the DIKO and EPP parties propose the establishment of an independent authority with powers regarding the filling of vacancies of municipal employees, as well as the exercise of disciplinary powers.
In another amendment, AKEL-DIKO and the Ecologists propose regulations regarding the free parking of electric vehicles and vehicles driven by an electric motorcycle in municipal parking areas where the parking of vehicles is not controlled by a mechanism or other vehicle entry and exit control system.
An AKEL amendment seeks to delete a provision concerning the indirect exercise of administrative supervision by the Minister of Interior over municipalities.
In an amendment to the law on municipalities, AKEL proposes to introduce a provision so that persons seeking election in occupied municipalities are exempted from the application of the proposed regulation limiting the terms of office of the mayor or member of the municipal council.
DIKO's amendment proposes to increase the number of councillors in the new municipalities by four councillors.
Another DIKO amendment seeks to exclude, for the purposes of applying the provision limiting the terms of 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.
It also recommends that provision be made so that, on the one hand, the second allocation of seats shall be conducted among the candidates in the municipal district concerned and, on the other hand, the municipality shall not be considered as a single electoral district.
Another amendment recommends that in communities with a number of registered voters not exceeding two hundred (200) voters be exempted from the application of the proposed provision for term limits on the office of mayor or community council member.
An amendment by the NEC is intended to effectively implement the provision whereby a person may 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 such municipality has effectively become the centre of his activities.
The Movement of Ecologists proposes in an amendment that simple proportional representation be applied in the electoral procedure for the purposes of appointing municipal councillors.
An amendment by the PPCD aims to introduce provisions concerning the carrying out at certain intervals of time of checks on the structural adequacy and planning suitability of each building by professionals registered with the Cyprus Scientific Technical Chamber for the purpose of securing a certificate of suitability of buildings. Another amendment of the party aims to introduce provisions to effectively address the problems arising from the nuisance caused by the emission of excessive sound.
Source: CNA
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