With fire against the local self-government reform and the scenario of merging Ayia Napa with Paralimni, the councilor of Ayia Napa, Emilia Evangelou-Xydia, officially announced her candidacy today at the Ayia Napa Sea Museum.
The speech as follows:
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF APPLICATION FOR THE MUNICIPALITY OF Ayia Napa
Statement by Emilia Evangelos Vinegar
Journalistic Conference - Municipal Museum "Thalassa" Ayia Napa
Saturday, 21 December 2019
Friends,
Let me say that today is a very important day for me.
I am announcing my candidacy for the position of Mayor of Ayia Napa.
I am a candidate for City Hall in the place where I was born and raised, in the place where I live with my family and work, in Ayia Napa that I love so much.
I never learned my big words.
I only learned to devote time and passion to achieving my goals.
This is exactly what I am doing now.
I claim the position of Mayor because I feel strong.
I am confident in myself because I rely on the knowledge I gained as a Municipal Councilor and my active presence for years in the life of the local community.
At the Open School, at the Parents' Association, next to my fellow human beings, at social events and charitable initiatives.
Ayia Napa is worth a lot.
I will devote all my efforts to achieving our goal.
My candidacy is Independent.
If my deputies honor me, I will serve as Mayor with only criteria:
- the progress and preservation of the special character of Ayia Napa
and
- my love for our beautiful place and its people.
Very soon I will present my positions on a number of issues that concern our city.
Today I want to talk about the top issue for the January 12th election.
Local government reform is good only if it improves the current administrative structure. I say clearly that Ayia Napa is worth much more than what is written in the bill and the proposals of the government.
Why Ayia Napa,
It is a top tourist destination from abroad and inside
. It offers a lot to the economy of Cyprus
Φέρει Contributes the most to the brand name of Cyprus as a separate and special tourist destination
. It gathers a large population of people, employees and visitors.
I want to fight for the position of the Mayor of Ayia Napa so that every citizen of ours can feel that he is gaining from the reform.
I will not go into details today. I say only my basic position:
In a reform, one part should not be large enough to turn the other parts into satellites.
Reform means respect for local characteristics.
That is why, I say, not in the government's proposal for the unification into one Municipality of the current Municipalities of Paralimni, Deryneia, Ayia Napa, Sotira.
I claim the preservation of Ayia Napa as an Independent Municipality.
Let me be clear: I am not in favor, or against the government.
I am only in favor of Ayia Napa!
I want Ayia Napa to be a Municipality - Protagonist!
I call on you to fight, all together, to change the government's proposal. Because the union with Paralimni means to transform Ayia Napa from a Municipality to a neighborhood.
Friends and friends,
Some failed to pass a proper bill and left Ayia Napa on the sidelines.
Now we must claim the solution with clear positions.
How;
First,
My goal is the battle in Parliament, that is, to convince the parties to keep Ayia Napa, our Autonomous Municipality. The bill has not yet been submitted to Parliament, so we have time to use it.
Secondly
Changes were made in the bill. Municipalities remained autonomous after second thoughts. It happened in other cases. I will not say them, you know them. As it happened elsewhere, we claim it to happen in Ayia Napa as well.
Third,
Local Government is a matter for the citizens.
We want to have a say.
We vote on January 12th.
I ask you to give me the strength, so that from the position of the Mayor of Ayia Napa we can fight for our clear position.
Friends,
On January 12, we unite the citizens of Ayia Napa for this great cause.
It is our Referendum to win what we deserve!
Soon we will have the opportunity to say it again in the context of a comprehensive presentation of places for Ayia Napa. We will talk about the challenges, the many possibilities but also the problems faced by our citizens, for which I will work tirelessly, collectively and methodically to find the way to solve them.
We will talk about tourism, quality of life and the social work of our Municipality.
I thank the political forces that have made their decisions so far and support my independent candidacy for Mayor.
I thank AKEL, the Citizens' Alliance and I will wait for the decisions of the other parties as well.
Finally, I thank my many friends and associates, as well as my family, who support me so warmly and spontaneously, encouraging me from the first moment to enter into this democratic process.
