Insider / ΚΥΠΕ
The examination of the amendments before the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, concerning the bills of the Local Government reform, was completed on Thursday.
The presentation of the amendments, which exceeds 85, took place during the meeting of the competent Committee, in camera.
Most of the amendments concern secondary issues, while some touch on the thorny issues of merging municipalities and clustering communities, as well as whether or not to hold referendums.
According to the members of the Committee on Home Affairs, the picture for the final form of the bills is expected to be clarified at next Thursday's session.
Besides, according to the members of the Committee, it is almost certain that within February the bills for the reform of the Local Self-Government will be put before the Plenary Session of the Parliament for a vote.
In his statements after the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee on Interior, Aristos Damianou, said that next Thursday another meeting will be held, so that the amendments that are approved by the majority of the members of the Committee, will be incorporated in the bills.
As he mentioned, today they completed in the Committee of Interior the presentation of all the amendments, submitted by all the parties in the package of bills, concerning the reform in the Local Self-Government, noting that “there was a creative discussion and there were efforts to find convergences in a series of issues “.
He noted that they have touched on the thorny issue of merging municipalities and the various scenarios, noting that “the parliamentary groups have kept open the prospect of finding the necessary convergences until next Thursday, in order to reduce the volume of amendments. which will be led to the Plenary Session of the Parliament “.
Regarding the procedure, Mr. Damianou said that “once the presentation of all the amendments (more than 85) is completed next Thursday, the members of the Committee on Home Affairs will vote, so that the amendments that are approved can be incorporated in the texts and those they are not adopted to be decided by the parliamentary groups whether they will insist and whether they will put them before the Plenary “.
He also noted that this is provided for in Parliament's Rules of Procedure.
He stressed that “the horizon that we set in February – I say it with relative certainty – to be able to put the reform in front of the Plenary to be voted on remains visible”.
“We have repeatedly said that the vote on this reform is a necessity and that is why we will insist that within the framework we have set it should be presented to the Plenary,” he said.
Regarding the scenarios for the number of Municipalities, he said that today an attempt was made to feel the possibility of finding convergences.
He said that there were no absolute positions from the parties, to add that he has no doubt that disagreements will be registered, but he keeps the fact that everyone tried to appear ready to discuss through the various scenarios.
Regarding the referendums, Mr. Damianou stated that they will vote next week, noting that “there is a proposal for holding local referendums, but there is also an objection in this position”.
However, he said that this “will be finalized next Thursday”.
It is recalled that the majority of parties seem to support the creation of 20 municipalities, with DISY insisting on 17 and DIPA proposing 14.
The MP of DIPA – Cooperation of Democratic Forces, Marinos Mousiouttas, stated that the reading of all the amendments has been completed, adding that next week the members of the Committee will vote which of them will be included in the bills by a majority.
“I believe that in a spirit of consensus we all today took another step towards completing the efforts to have the bills in February before the Plenary for a vote,” he said.
He added that DIPA developed its scenario for 14 municipalities, while he said that it is open for a smaller number, noting that the party favors fewer municipalities and more community complexes.
Regarding the referendums, he said that there are ambiguous views, adding that we will vote for this in the next session, so that the bills are completed.
DISY MP, Nikos Sykas, expressed the hope that the next session will be the final one and that the bills will be taken to the Plenary Session for voting based on the set schedule.
He expressed the assessment that although the parties' positions on the number of municipalities remain, there is room for consensus.
The MP of the Ecologists' Movement, Alexandra Attalidou, said that the Ecologists have supported the creation of the Municipality of Akama, with the Municipality of Pegeia taking the leading role.
He expressed the belief that Akamas and the Pegia forest need protection, noting that the Movement considers that “Pegia has the potential to offer services in all the villages of Laona and to be a sustainable Municipality”.
