On Thursday, the debate in the Parliamentary Committee of the Interior focused on the intentions of the parties to register amendments regarding the establishment of the Deputy Ministry of Immigration and Asylum.
The Chairman of the Committee, Member of Parliament of AKEL, Aristos Damianou, stated that a presentation was made by EDEK and the other parties regarding some special issues. He noted that the executive branch maintains its position that the bill should be pushed forward as is.
"It is a given that a number of parties, both in the coalition and in the opposition, have reservations about a number of provisions," said Mr. Damianou and added that "as far as our own Parliamentary group is concerned, the most serious deficit recorded is the absence of reports in inclusive policies".
He stated that it has been jointly decided that on January 11, 2024, the consultation of the parliamentary parties will be completed in order to bring the bill to the Plenary of the Parliament.
"Since then, our own legal reservation regarding the constitutionality of the Deputy Ministries has been recorded repeatedly, an issue which is not resolved and about which a fishy silence is kept," said Mr. Damianou.
The lone socialist MP, Kostis Efstathiou, stated that as the discussions and dialogue regarding the Deputy Ministry of Immigration progress "we come to the conclusion that essentially this was unnecessary and creates multiple problems, instead of solving them".
He added that "instead of letting the system work and improving it, we're scrapping it to start another system that's on the brink of unconstitutionality."
He noted that there is also the paradox of how it is possible for a Deputy Ministry which reports directly to the President of the Republic to conduct operations or gather powers regarding immigration issues. "It is unthinkable that the President of the Republic is essentially the hierarchical head of this service," he said.
He also stated that if the Asylum and Immigration Service is transferred to the Deputy Ministry then this will mean that the President of the Republic will head a security body, which he described as destructive for democracy.
AKEL proceeded to register an issue for the European Regulation on media freedom
AKEL's Parliamentary group proposed the registration of an ex officio matter to the Interior Committee regarding the European regulation regulating the freedom of the mass media in Europe, AKEL MP Aristos Damianou announced.
Mr. Damianou pointed out that the regulation in question is "evolving into a regulation on media freedom".
He expressed his satisfaction that the issue was adopted by all the members of the Home Affairs Committee noting that it will be discussed as a matter of priority on January 11, 2024 which is the first meeting after the Christmas break.
"We consider that there is a serious lack of information on the part of the Government regarding the position it has taken at the European level", said Mr. Damianou, noting that as a result of the eventual passing of the regulation, a serious democratic deficit will be created which will irreparably damage the rule of law.
"Journalistic freedoms are political freedoms and therefore must be non-negotiable", concluded Mr. Damianou.
Source: KYPE