Insider / ΚΥΠΕ
The hope that on February 24 there will be presentations in the Plenary Session of the Parliament, which will give sustainable Local Government, which will provide quality services to the citizens, at the lowest possible cost, was expressed on Tuesday by the Minister of Interior, Nikos Nouris, who reiterated that the government wants to reach an architecture of Local Government reform that can stand in the long run.
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In his statements, after the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Refugees, on the occasion of yesterday's completion of the examination of all the issues arising from the amendments of the parliamentary groups, in the package of legislations concerning the Local Government reform, the Minister of Interior said that two to three issues remain on the table, on which there are different positions from the parties.
“There are two issues, which the Government has a clear position and opinion and we will continue the effort to respond to the concerns of the parliamentary parties until the Plenary Session. “And it is the issue of entities and the issue of referendums in the first place,” he said.
Regarding the issue of Municipalities, Mr. Nouris said that “they are not dogmatic in number”, but as he noted “they are absolute in the fact that any new entities that emerge should be sustainable in the long run”.
He noted that last-minute proposals, such as the creation of a new entity with the Union of Akama and Pegeia Communities, “are unsubstantiated”.
In particular, he referred to a “last-minute suggestion”, saying that “it is unsubstantiated and has not been put under the torment of technocrats, it has not been possible to measure and much less ignores the fact that the Akamas are governed in the next few weeks by separate urban planning legislation in the local plan of Akamas, which for years we have been trying to structure with specific parameters “.
On the other hand, he added, “the Municipality of Pegeia has its own local plan, which is another urban planning legislation”.
The Minister of Interior said, at the same time, that “from the very beginning, a very serious issue of non-uniformity arises in this effort”.
In addition, he said that the deficits that will arise from entities that can not be sustainable, the damage at the end of the day “will be paid by the citizens.”
As he said “any possible deficits will arise from the fact that entities will be formed, which will not be able to stand and be sustainable then the damage will be called to cover the budget which will be provided and which is guaranteed by the side of the state but at the end of the day what will hurt is the citizen himself “.
He added that “parliamentary parties have a responsibility to make each of their proposals regarding the entities documented and to be a proposal that ensures viability”, to add that “this is what we want to be done in the end”.
Regarding the referendums, the Minister of Interior said that there is no provision in the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus for conducting local referendums, but there is a special law.
As he noted, “they can not pass a law and after two years ask the citizens if they want the law to exist”, to add that “in this way the Parliament abolishes itself”.
He added that if the parliamentary parties want to hold local referendums, then they could do so now, to note that they would later pass the legislation.
But, he said, “this is far from the commitment they made to the people.”
Finally, he expressed the hope that on February 24 there will be presentations in the Plenary, which will give a sustainable Local Government, which will provide quality services to the citizens at the lowest possible cost.
