A massive police presence will be monitoring election centres across Cyprus on Sunday, spokesman Christos Andreou said, while the police union Isotita expressed dissatisfaction with the overtime pay.

According to Andreou, around 2,700 police officers will be deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the elections.

Andreou noted that this is an unprecedented deployment, making it a challenge for the police force. The increased number of polling stations, due to the simultaneous EU and local elections, necessitates the deployment of 50 per cent of the total police force.

To ensure everything runs smoothly and that the law is observed, daily meetings are being held both at local police headquarters and the central police HQ.

The police chief and his deputy will also be on duty during the elections and in continuous contact with the chief returning officer to address any issues that arise.

The hundreds of police officers performing duties in Sunday’s elections have received special and detailed instructions from the police leadership on conduct.

The salary paid to the police officers for their duties in the elections will be €435, while those serving as supervisors will receive around €750.

Commenting to the Cyprus Mail about the pay, the head of the police branch of the union Isotita, Nikos Loizides, said that the overtime pay will be €200 less than it should be.

He explained that overtime for the lowest-ranking officers is supposed to be paid according to the A8 pay scale, but it was decided that overtime pay would be on the A5 scale.

“It is well under the scale, as it should be paid at A8 and will be paid A5, which is to say €200 less,” he said.

Commenting further, he spoke of exploitation of security forces workers and pointed out that “the tactic of taking everything and forcing you to settle for less does not satisfies the police union, Isotita”.

He told the Cyprus Mail that police officers would be paid about 30 per cent less than they would have to be paid with 20 hours of overtime.

He added that this is the beginning of the end for the labour rights of police officers.

“The end of the labour rights of police officers is beginning to become apparent for other overtime duties as well,” he said.

According to the Loizides, these decisions were made without the consultation of the unions.

He added that these “final decisions on the payment, are no reason to celebrate.”