Whether or not the Municipal Elections will be held on December 18 is expected to be clarified at today's meeting at 12:00 by the Parliamentary Committee on Interior, as the final stance of the parties is expected to become clear, with the general picture tending to be held.
Thus, tomorrow the Plenary Session of the Parliament will be called to seal the decisions of the MPs, as it will be called to vote or reject the bill approved by the Council of Ministers and which proposes the postponement of the elections for two years, citing the reform of Local Government .
As everything shows, the bill will be voted against by all parties, except the ruling DISY, a development that will lead to the normal conduct of elections.
It is worth noting, however, that constitutionally, the postponement of the elections is possible at any time, even after the possible vote against the bill in tomorrow's plenary session or after their regular announcement on Friday. According to the opinion of the Legal Service, in case of "urgency", the revision of the official announcement is possible, with the approval of the Parliament.
At the same time, the Election Service is on standby, with sources saying that everything shows that the mechanism is ready, despite the delay in decisions by the Legislature and the Government.
However, the Service is currently unable to print the application forms, which should already be ready and available to the Prefect, and the voter list has not been prepared yet. Other pending issues concern objections that have been submitted, mainly in the Province of Famagusta.
Mavrou: The issue has been clarified
Speaking on the show "Protoselido", the Chairman of the Committee on Interior, Eleni Mavrou, stated that the issue has been clarified rather early, according to the positions of the parliamentary parties, while adding that "we have reached the point where other decisions are difficult to make" .
Besides, tomorrow, Friday, the deadline by which the Ministry of Interior can announce the elections expires.
Regarding the readiness of the system to conduct the elections, Ms. Mavrou said that the procedures are proceeding normally, with everything estimated that they will be ready on December 18.
Regarding the reform of the Local Government, Ms. Mavrou pointed out that for the past 15 days the exchange of views on the issues has been constantly postponed. However, the issue has been on the Commission's agenda for next week, so that the "easy" issues can begin to close. For more complex issues, the Government's input may be required, which should further specify certain provisions of the bills.
"From there and beyond the difficulties begin", she said referring to the unification of Municipalities as which Municipalities and which communities will be united, is not yet clarified by the Government.
"There is a proposal from the Government which was submitted only in the summer, after the submission of the bills, which concerns 22 Municipalities, while there are other views", he added, adding that criteria should be included, such as population, geographical and political, while viability studies should be performed.
The parties agree on the philosophy of the reform
As he said, most parties agree with the general philosophy of the reform, while accepting the need, some responsibilities to be transferred to the provincial level, as well as the need to join forces.
"The issue is how decisively we will move in this direction," he said, while opposing a voluntary approach to the issue.
Regarding the fate of the staff of the Local Government in case of merger, Ms. Mavrou estimated that the staff issues are not difficult to handle, as there are already vacancies, while there is an intention to create a fund that will provide incentives for early retirement where there are no needs and to make organizational charts that will meet modern needs.
"The staff should not worry," he said.
Source: SigmaLive