#local government reform

The House on Thursday passed three bills comprising the much-delayed reform of local government, rearranging and consolidating the current 30 municipalities into 20. The legislation relating to municipalities passed with 52 votes for, ...

A protracted session awaits the House plenary on Thursday as it grapples with more than 60 amendments to the long-delayed local government reform legislation. The three bills are expected to be ...

The chief goal of local government reform should be a better and more efficient functioning of municipal authorities in addressing the needs and expectations of its residents at low cost, ...

Political parties on Monday made one last big push at consensus over legislation governing the reform of local government, but major questions still remained like the number of municipalities. Following ...

Barring the unexpected, the legislation on local government reform will go to the plenum for a vote one month from now, it transpired on Thursday. Speaking after a session of ...

A total of 85 amendments to the local government reform bills were presented during the House interior committee on Thursday, which took place behind closed doors. While most of the amendments ...

Having more than 17 municipalities would lead to financial viability problems with taxpayers footing the bill, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said on the debate on the local government reform. The minister, ...

Disgruntled Geroskipou residents held a protest on Friday in front of the municipality’s office to demonstrate against local government reforms – which would see Geroskipou municipality absorbed by Paphos. Dozens ...

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said Thursday the government had no intention of withdrawing local authority reform bills, nor abort the endeavour, as discussions appeared to hit an impasse over the ...

In another twist, parties decided Monday to postpone to the new year a vote in the plenum on the local government reform bills, while at the same time avowing their ...

The fate of local government reform could hang in the balance this week, as MPs weigh the disparate demands and objections coming from several communities – and this amid fresh warnings ...

Citing political dangers linked with the Cyprus problem, Famagusta municipality and the district’s chamber of commerce said on Friday they opposed any changes as part of the local government ...

The union of municipalities has asked for more clarity over the revenues that will be transferred to local authorities after the reform, as some villages still opposed mergers, a key ...

MPs next Thursday will start discussing the thorny issues of the proposed local authority reform after more or less agreeing on the rest of the provisions of three bills. House ...

The local authorities of Ayia Napa, Liopetri and Sotira on Monday said their merger as part of local government reform would be an advantage in many fields including tourism, agriculture ...

Amid long-drawn-out discussions on the reform of local government, a Council of Europe (CoE) report on Wednesday said Cyprus was still too ‘centralised’ and that “too little progress” had been ...

The House Interior Committee on Thursday completed an article-by-article discussion of sweeping reforms to local government, acknowledging that though differences remain, they were gradually inching towards consensus on many aspects ...

MPs on Thursday ploughed on with an article-by-article discussion of sweeping reforms to local authorities that must be approved by the end of the year for Cyprus to qualify for ...

Four Famagusta district villages want the creation of a unified local authority to include the area’s four communities and five municipalities, a demand that is not in line with ...

Everyone agrees reform is vital so why do we need a referendum? By George Koumoullis In order to restore the mental balance of those that may have been worried about ...

The government’s plans to hold a referendum on local government reform on the same day as the parliamentary elections appear doomed after the House interior committee decided by majority ...

The government on Monday formally presented to parliament the question to be put in a single, island-wide referendum on the issue of local government reform, and urged MPs to “act ...

An island-wide referendum on local government reform will be held on the same day as the May 30 parliamentary elections, the Council of Ministers decided on Wednesday. The decision was announced ...

Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said on Tuesday he planned to table a proposal for a referendum to be held on local authority reform whose discussion has been dragging on for ...