The parties enter the dance of the debate behind the scenes for the modernization of the Local Self-Government, since from the "drawing of the lines" and from the final distribution, they estimate that their chances of electing or not electing mayors for many years will be judged.
Already, the first party strike took place and it is related to which municipality will absorb the Municipality of Aglantzia, while other interventions are expected to follow for the other provinces. Especially in this case, the issue of merging the Municipalities of Nicosia and Aglantzia instead of Aglantzia with another municipality or municipalities was raised in the form of reflection.
The whole situation regarding the number of municipalities that will remain in the end and who they will be, looks like quicksand and the first projectiles or impacts have already started.
For his part, the Minister of Interior, Konstantinos Petridis, stated that what he is primarily interested in is the numbers regarding the viability of the new schemes, as well as their functionality, in order to better serve the citizens with parallel service and the professionals who will have transactions. with the Local Government.
In this regard, Mr. Petridis assured that regarding the number of municipalities and who will remain after the mergers is not final and indicated that the goal is for the final decisions to be taken in consultation with the municipalities, but also in cooperation with Parliament or which will approve the legislation in progress. It is worth noting that in the context of the "exercises on paper" ideas were put forward for the operation of ten or even 15 municipalities out of the 30 that are today.
The Minister insists that what needs to be clarified are the responsibilities of the new schemes, the final configuration of which will be possible in cooperation with the Union of Municipalities.
With the data so far and without anything definite, the intention is to assign the following responsibilities to the new schemes:
- Implementation of development projects. From the dependence that the municipalities (on the state services) have today for the planning and implementation of projects, they move on to the creation of infrastructure so that they can function as contracting authorities and implement projects directly for the benefit of the citizens.
- Implementation of the Law on Urban Planning and Spatial Planning instead of the four urban planning authorities (at the level of municipalities that is in force today). The competence is expanded and all the new municipalities will be urban planning authorities.
- Issuance of Building Permits based on the Law on Roads and Buildings. A single authority for issuing urban planning and building permits is established in each new municipality (acceleration of procedures, better service to the citizen, avoidance of double consultations).
- As for the Municipal Police (today there is an impossibility of policing and enforcement and harassment of citizens) new responsibilities are granted with extended powers (identity and car license checks, issuance of extrajudicial fines, inspection of documents, receipt of evidence, arrest of detainees) arrest .
- For the preparation and approval of the budget, only an audit of the implementation of the Law on Financial Responsibility (balanced budget) will be carried out instead of the detailed control that is carried out today.
- In terms of human resource management, from complete dependence on the Ministries of Finance and Interior, municipalities pass to autonomy (eg recruitment) on the basis of indicators as part of the overall budget.
- The provision of social services is also provided for in the existing legislation, but due to its small size and lack of expertise that would ensure the sustainability of the services, there was a weakness in offering them to the citizens.
- The new municipalities will have the financial flexibility but also the expertise that will ensure the viability of the projects, but at the same time a provision is introduced for the possibility of securing financing from state resources.
- Issuance of licenses issued by District Administrations for economic activities: A new competence is created - which is considered to lead to better and more direct service to businesses and citizens (licensing of leisure centers, license to sell drinks, marketing and sale of tobacco, operation of gas stations, operation of gas stations swimming pools, etc.).
- In the field of Transparency and Accountability, internal control and transparency systems are adopted that did not exist before.
- In the issue of securing responsibilities related to intra-municipal transport, a new responsibility is created for better service of the citizens.
- Regarding the establishment of the possibility of inter-municipal collaborations that operate in addition to the existing public transport, new responsibilities are also given in order to better serve the citizens.
- Utilization and maintenance of local infrastructure (parks, green spaces). Today the municipalities have only the responsibility for the cleaning and pruning without being given the opportunity to use them for the benefit of their citizens. Provisions are introduced to provide the possibility of use by the municipalities of green spaces and parks.
- In the sanitary control of professional premises there are overlaps (with the Ministry of Health) which are abolished and assigned to the municipalities.
- In the field of Transparency and Accountability (which did not exist), internal control and transparency systems are adopted.
- The area of citizen participation is strengthened, who will be able to ask the municipality to consider issues that concern them.
- The deputy mayor will be paid
The legislation is amended so that the deputy mayors are paid € 1.500. In each new scheme there may be more than one deputy mayor. However, the interior minister suggested that even with the payment of a fee to the deputy mayors, € 4 million would be saved each year by reducing the number of mayors and municipal councilors.
The possibilities of the new municipalities, which will emerge after the mergers, to be active in the business sector are also interesting. Specifically, in addition to the water supply, they will be able to operate in natural gas as well as in transport within their borders or outside in cooperation with neighboring municipalities, but also where there is no contract of the Ministry of Transport with buses.
The bill under promotion stipulates that the residents and local bodies of each municipality can submit memoranda or questions to the relevant council and request information and information. The relevant council must respond to the questions, information and information requested, based on the relevant paragraph, within thirty days.
A group of at least 30 residents and local bodies may submit written proposals to the relevant council for resolving problems within its competence, which are discussed at a meeting and the interested parties are informed about the decisions taken.
Any person with a legal interest may request in writing from the mayor copies of specific practices and decisions of the relevant council. The mayor, provided that no one's personal data is affected, has a responsibility to satisfy the request without delay.
The distribution of seats in the municipal districts, as the new schemes that will emerge will begin, begins with the assignment of a seat in each municipal district. The rest of the seats are distributed in the municipal districts according to the number of voters in each district.
Bypass of the mayor
In the event that the mayor or chairman (of one of the committees that will function - as the case may be) refuses or fails to convene the meeting within seven days of the written request, the members of the council who requested its convening, with the after the expiry of the seven-day period, they may convene the meeting themselves, by written invitation to the mayor or chairman of the committee and to all members of the council or committee, as the case may be, on which the agenda is set. in the written application. The decisions that will be taken in these sessions are valid and enforceable.
Internet and cancellation of transactions
According to the proposed legislation, decisions of the bodies of the Municipality are posted on the internet regarding:
- All kinds of expenses.
- Acts of appointment of single-member bodies and formation of collective bodies.
- Acts of appointment, acceptance of resignation, replacement of elected officials.
- Acts of formation of paid or unpaid committees, working groups, working groups regardless of whether the members are paid or whether they are remunerated or not.
- Announcements for selection and filling of executive positions.
- Summaries of announcements, decisions and acts of awarding and awarding public contracts for works, supplies, services and studies.
Failure to publish the above decisions on the internet constitutes an omission of an essential nature and renders the act invalid.
Source: Liberal