Demetriou: Implementing reform is govt’s responsibility

Implementing local government reform “is the government’s responsibility”, House President Annita Demetriou said on Thursday.

Speaking following a meeting with Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou on the matter, she said “we expect the government to have everything ready for the upcoming elections and, as we emphasised today once again, we are ready for any corrective actions which may be required in the future.”

She added, “parliament passes laws and the responsibility for their implementation lies with the executive branch.”

She also said that local government reform “will be for the benefit of society,” and that “everyone wants to see it succeed.”

With this in mind, she said “no major reform, just as was the case with Gesy, automatically goes into operation without problems, but it is important that we do not engage in a blame game and that all sides work constructively to find solutions.”

“We must move forward with optimism and determination for this major reform, which we have been discussing for more than 20 years, and which we have now legislated into reality and are now required to implement,” she added.

Asked to comment on her non-attendance of a meeting held by President Nikos Christodoulides regarding local government reform on Tuesday, she said she “really was not in a position to change my personal schedule to attend the meeting.”

She pointed out that she had sent Disy MP Nikos Sykas in her place, echoing statements from Christodoulides on Tuesday, who had described her non-attendance as “not even an issue”.

Moving back to the matter of local government reform, she said people “should not be given an image of chaos” and that the government “must be prepared” and that it must show “institutional competence”.