Ioannou not ‘indifferent’ to challenges of local government reform
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou on Wednesday said he was not “indifferent” to the challenges of local government reform and that he in fact “did more than that for which the law provides”.
Ioannou was reacting to claims made by Akel that the government had “not shown the necessary fervour” in its efforts to ensure a smooth transition to the new system of local government, and said he was “surprised” by the party’s statements.
“Without wanting to enter into any controversy, I would like to emphasise that this government, since the first day it took office, has prioritised the smooth implementation of this large reform,” he said.
He added that he and his ministry had issued “timely warnings” regarding his concerns regarding potential “weaknesses and distortions” in the legislation regarding the reform, and “even tried to make amendments to improve the legislative framework”.
Despite these efforts, he said, the government “did not find the expected response from political parties”
Delving into specifics, he said the government had expressed concerns “about the fact that mergers of municipalities were not done on the basis of economic or population-based data and also did not take into account of any of the studies done for this purpose.”
“The consequence of this is that the viability of some municipalities is not guaranteed,” he said, saying that some municipalities lack “critical mass” and that the “economy of scale” desired in the clustering of municipalities was not achieved in some areas.
He added that he had also expressed concerns regarding the “large number of deputy mayors”, who he said have “no clear mandate”, while also making reference to their large salaries.
“Indeed, we immediately proceeded to change the method of determining how much deputy mayors are paid so that it takes place on a staggered basis and also takes into account the population,” he said.
He also touched on the issue of the €117 million earmarked for the transition, saying the figure “in no way represents the total cost which will be required for the reform”.
He added that there will be “additional amounts” still required, including funds to ensure the sustainability of district governments while at the same time ensuring the rate of taxes returning to municipalities remains the same.
This, he said, will “ensure the financial and administrative autonomy and sustainability of district governments without at the same time losing the municipalities money.”
He also said that the laws surrounding local government reform did not allow his ministry to “directly intervene to resolve issues” brought to light during the process by the interim coordination councils which worked to help implement the reform.
As such, he said, “it is unfair to say the least to hold the interior ministry accountable for omissions made by others, when the legislation which was passed did not provide us with the tools to step in and fix the gaps which were being found.”
Concluding, he said his ministry “did not ignore or renounce its responsibility” but in fact “did more than that for which the law provides”.
“We have identified the weaknesses of the legal framework which was passed and in cooperation with parliament we are in the process of resolving the problems,” he said.