Thursday, 7 April 2022
A meeting of the Administrative Public and Health Affairs Committee was held yesterday to discuss the municipal reform bill. During the meeting, there were heated discussions between government and opposition MPs, which lasted into the early hours of this morning.
At the meeting, which concluded at 01.30 this morning, it was decided to end the work of the committee which was trying to reach a consensus on the bill, and to meet the party leaders represented in the Assembly next Tuesday.
Following this decision, the municipal vehicles which were parked in front of the Assembly building as part of the protest against the draft bill in its current form, were removed from the front of the Assembly.
At 2am this morning, the Union of Municipal Workers (BES), announced that the indefinite strike decision taken by the municipalities for today would be suspended.
The Trades’ Union Federation Dev-Is, in conjunction with BES, issued the following statement: “As a result of the consensus of all five political parties, the current draft law will not be voted on and a consensus will be sought by Tuesday next week, so our announced strike has been suspended until Tuesday“.
Critics of the draft reform bill say that although reform of the municipalities was long overdue, it was hastily drawn up, without consulting all stakeholders including the public. It was argued that merely lumping together a number of the municipalities would not make them more efficient and that revisions of internal structures were also needed.
