The Plenary of the Parliament, in an extraordinary session, unanimously rejected the impeachment by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, of the law he passed on April 11, which allows the Chief of Police to appoint and promote rescuers and winch operators of Police aircraft who do not they hold a university degree.
The law passed by the Parliament amended the Law on Police, giving discretion to the Chief of Police, upon approval of the Minister of Justice and Public Order, to appoint under conditions any member of the Police as a specialized member.
The grounds for referral refer, among other things, to issues of unconstitutionality and provisions that fundamentally disrupt the legal and jurisdictional structure of the bill, by introducing conflicting and contradictory provisions in a way that violates constitutional provisions. It is also reported that the provision of the possibility to the Chief of Police continues to lead to unequal treatment, since a new appointment procedure is still being created for the position of specialized members of the police force specializing in rescuers and winch operators, which is aimed solely at the more favorable treatment of existing members of the Police of this specialty.
It is also stated that this amendment inevitably burdens the budget in violation of Article 80.2 of the Constitution.
At the same time, in the citation it is noted that with this specific legislative provision "the House of Representatives usurped the powers of the Executive Power, which has the essential competence to decide on the appointments of members of the Police, which obligation is of an administrative nature".
This legislative requirement, it is added, interferes with the powers of the executive power, in a way that violates the constitutional Principle of Separation of Powers, since the executive power is constitutionally privileged to exercise an administrative function and to decide on the exercise of general policy.
In his statement before the Plenary, the individual socialist Member of Parliament Kostis Efstathiou, who had proposed the specific law that was passed, stated that there are issues in the impeachment that are not correct. He noted that with the law an attempt was made to have equal treatment of people who serve in the Police and have an education title that cost hundreds of thousands, with their colleagues who have an academic title. Something like this, as he said, does not promote the principle of equality but cures it.
He also said that the possibility is provided to the Chief of Police, if he wishes, to appoint or promote and that this possibility is in no way an imposition. He also said that apparently there will be a provision in the budget for these positions since the police leadership is functioning legally.
Mr. Efstathiou also mentioned that the worst reason put forward is what is referred to as usurpation of powers of the executive power by the Parliament, which means that the Parliament cannot have a legislative initiative on matters of executive power. This, he said, is reminiscent of the colonial legislative council whose sole duty was to vote on the governor's bills.
He noted that such a thing cannot be done in a democracy and one cannot deprive the Parliament of the right to legislate on all matters. He added that the impeachment should be voted down to send the message that Parliament is here and cannot be replaced by decrees or executive acts.
The President of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, DISY Member of Parliament Nikos Tornaritis said that the Committee insists on its position that the specific group of police officers who daily put themselves in danger for the sake of the public interest needs recognition and reward and proposes the rejection of the impeachment in question .
Source: KYPE