Cyprus Unitary state

Structures and competences

Local level :

350 communities* (koinotites) and 30 municipalities (dimoi)

There are two different types of local governements in Cyprus: communities in rural areas and municipalities in urban and tourism areas.

Communities

The community council (koinotiko sumvoulio) is composed of members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. This legislative board is also composed of a president and a vice-president.

The president (proedros) of the community is elected by direct universal suffrage for a period of five years and chairs the community council.

Municipalities

The municipal council (dimotiko sumvoulio) is the municipality’s deliberative assembly and is composed of members elected by direct universal suffrage for five years. It is responsible for providing assistance and advice to the mayor as regards the execution of his duties. The municipal council also sets up different committees within the municipality, including the management committee responsible for the preparation of the budget and other ad-hoc committees that provide technical, cultural, and environmental and personnel assistance.

The mayor (dimarchos) is the municipality’s executive leader and is elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year mandate. He/ she represents the municipality in a court of law and before any state authority. The mayor also supervises the municipality’s administration and chairs the municipal council.

COMPETENCES*

• Urban planning
• Protection of the environment
• Water supply
• Land development
• Household refuse

* There are nine municipalities and 135 communities in the occupied part of Cyprus, bringing the total on the island to 524 local governements.

A community may become a municipality by local referendum provided it has a population of more than 5,000 or has the economic resources to function as a municipality.

The consultation with the central government, for the reform of local self-government, is still ongoing. Three Bills of Law have already been sent to the House of Parliament, which will be examining them as of January 2016. The Bills provide for compulsory clustering of services between municipalities and/or communities, to jointly promote various competences, policies, projects and services, with a view to merging these clusters into new entities.