The debate on the reform of local self-government is proceeding rapidly

Statements by AKEL MP Aristos Damianou and Chairman of the Parliamentary Internal Affairs Committee

7 October 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

I would like to express my satisfaction with the level of the debate today in the Parliamentary Internal Affairs Committee. The need to complete the reform of Local Government, the conclusion that as it stands the existing system doesn’t serve citizens and is essentially outdated and needs modernization, I believe that was the compass of all colleagues regarding the way they handled all the issues in the first stage of the session, where we discussed the procedure to be followed for the coming weeks. It was with similar responsibility, I must say, that the debate continued in the presence of the most competent authorities – the Union of Municipalities and Union of Local Communities.

We have decided that we will extend the duration of the meetings of the Internal Affairs Committee. Next week we will start the article-by-article debate, or rather we will continue the article-by-article debate, building on the body of work of the previous Internal Affairs Committee. We all know that there are a few – but open – important contentious issues. We shall also focus on solving them.

The timeframe for completing the whole debate, if possible by the end of November, remains.

I would like to take this opportunity to address an appeal to all stakeholders, besides the political forces, to consider the magnitude of their responsibilities. It is only natural that a reform package cannot accommodate everyone’s wishes. We need to look at the big picture. And the big picture is that we need the Reform. If there are individual disagreements, we shall operate democratically. We will listen, but at the end of the day, the House of Representatives in a sovereign manner will decide. And of course we are all judged by the content of our actions and omissions.