New controversial ‘law on municipalities’ passed in the north

North passed a ‘law’ to consolidate ‘municipalities’ on Thursday amidst protests by municipal workers claiming the move was ‘unconstitutional’.

The controversial ‘law’ which unifies several ‘municipalities’ was passed with some amendments in the early morning hours of Thursday.

During the ‘parliament’ session, ‘MPs’ from the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) occupied the floor in protest, leading to ‘MPs’ of the ‘ruling’ party to exit the meeting.

CTP argued that the new ‘law’ was ‘unconstitutional’ and was prepared without taking the opinion of large segments of the Turkish Cypriot community.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot trade unionists were demonstrating outside the building calling on authorities to withdraw the bill. Media reported that the gate of the ‘parliament’ building was damaged following episodes with the protestors after police arrived.

This prompted a short recess before the debate resumed and made amendments that eliminate various ‘municipalities’ in the north.

“This is not a court of law. We believe that (the new ‘law’) is in accordance with the ‘constitution’, based on the studies we have prepared with our own lawyers, and if it is enacted in accordance with the proposals we will present, it will not be rejected by the ‘constitutional court’,” said ‘Interior Minister’ Ziyah Ozturkler.

The amendments were accepted by the majority of the ‘deputies’.