President pledges support on eve of local government reform

The government will stand by the new local government leaders to achieve local authority reform, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.

The reformed bodies and officials will begin operation on Monday.

“It is a very important day,” Christodoulides said, adding that “we did everything possible to support this great effort. We have to be honest, it won’t be easy.”

He pointed out that “big changes create problems, challenges and generally as a society we are not so receptive to change”, adding that “we should all work together so that this reform succeeds, which in the long term aims to better serve citizens.

“We as a government will stand by the new leaders of local government to support them. We are clearly giving more powers to local government, as is the trend at European level in general, and we will be by their side for this important reform to succeed,” he concluded.

The new officials were voted to their positions on June 9 while a few days later loose ends in the laws covering the reform were discussed in parliament.

The long-awaited reform sees the total number of municipalities on the island reduced with the creation of new posts of district governors and deputy mayors. One of the reason it was introduced was to streamline services.