Busy session ahead as holiday ends for House

The summer break is over for MPs, with parliamentary committees scheduled to resume as of next Monday.

Speaking to the media, House Speaker Demetris Syllouris explained how the workings of parliament would be re-jigged.

A major change is that plenary sessions will be held on Friday mornings, rather than on Thursday afternoons, as had been the case until now.

This would give lawmakers the entire work week to prepare for the plenum, Syllouris said.

The first plenary of the new House session is scheduled for Friday, September 9.

In addition, parliamentary committees throughout the week will henceforth be scheduled across three distinct time slots, ensuring that MPs who sit on multiple committees have no overlap.

“The whole purpose of the changes is to make parliament more efficient,” Syllouris said.

Parliament has a busy schedule ahead. The House finance committee will be resuming discussion of a batch of government bills relating to public service reform.

On Tuesday, August 30, the energy and commerce committee will commence with a briefing from Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis on the hydrocarbons scene in Cyprus. The session will continue with discussion of a bill seeking to further promote the use of renewable energy sources.

Likewise the House watchdog committee is set to convene on August 30. Making an appearance there will be former Central Bank governor Athanasios Orphanides.

On Wednesday, August 31, the legal affairs committee will continue discussion on the 12th amendment to the Constitution and on matters relating to regulations in the police force.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.