In keeping with past practice, parliamentarians on Thursday postponed voting on legislation on two hot-button issues, leaving the vote to the last session of the House plenary next week.

The two items scheduled to go to a vote on Thursday concerned changes to the rules governing public gatherings such as protests, and a package of bills regarding the issue of multiple pensions paid to certain state officials.

For both, parliament decided to postpone to July 10 – the last session of the plenary before the summer recess.

Regarding the bill on public gatherings and parades, it specifies a process where the organisers notify authorities of the gathering, without making such notification mandatory.

It also empowers the chief of police to place restrictions on, or even order the break-up of, a gathering or parade via a specified process. The bill additionally introduces a new criminal offence relating to the outbreak of violence at such gatherings, as well as for a person’s refusal – “without legitimate reason” – to remove any item concealing their face or identity.

Disy MP Nicos Tornaritis, a leading supporter of the bill, insisted the proposed legislation does not infringe on human rights.

Rather, he said, it aims to “modernise an outdated, colonial-era law.”

Article 21 of the constitution reads: “Every person has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.”

It adds: “No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are absolutely necessary only in the ‘interests of the security of the Republic or the constitutional order or the public safety or the public order or the public health or the public morals or for the protection of the rights and liberties guaranteed by this Constitution to any person, whether or not such person participates in such assembly or is a member of such association.”

Meantime outside the parliament building around 120 people had gathered to protest the proposed legislation. They included members of the new-fangled Alma party, set up by former auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides.

The other item postponed was the package of bills relating to the multiple pensions paid to certain state officials.

MPs had for months grappled with finding a ‘sweet spot’ regulating the matter of state officials receiving multiple pensions, or drawing a pension and a salary at the same time.

Postponing the issue to the last plenary session is almost certain to make for a fiery debate.