SUNDAY should have been a landmark day in Cyprus: the first local election in which non-Cypriot EU nationals were allowed to vote. It is a by-election caused by the retirement of the mayor for reasons of ill health. What’s more, it is taking place in Peyia – a village on the outskirts of Paphos with what must be one of the highest concentrations of foreign residents of any locality in Cyprus.
Indeed, Peyia is one place where the presence of so many EU expatriates could have altered the political landscape, forcing candidates to take account of the kind of issues that dominate their concerns – rising crime and apparently uncontrolled development to cite but two.
Not many had registered to vote – about 70 who exercised their new democratic rights by voting in the European Parliament elections last year. It takes time for people to adjust to the new rights that EU membership affords them and the bureaucratic hurdles can be daunting.
But those 70 will not be allowed to exercise their democratic right this Sunday, because Parliament has failed to amend the electoral law in time, having been caught out by the unscheduled calling of a by-election.
It may seem a petty issue to our politicians. But their contempt for it is nothing short of scandalous. The right to vote in local elections across Europe is one of the great principles of European Union membership. Just as EU nationals are allowed to work and settle anywhere within the bloc, so their decision to do so does not come at the expense of their democratic rights, with European citizens able to vote in local elections at their place of residence, irrespective of nationality.
Cypriots across Europe already enjoy that right in the 24 other countries of the Union, yet here EU nationals are being told they will have to wait until nationwide local elections in 2006.
This is a disgrace. It’s not as if the amendment required lengthy parliamentary debate – it’s a mere formality over which than can be no discussion. Cyprus knew it had to do this and had plenty of time to make the change. Everything should have been in place by May 1 last year, when Cyprus became a full member of the EU.
Undoubtedly, this shambolic situation has come around by omission rather than design. But it only reinforces the sense of many Europeans in Cyprus that their equal rights are not being taken as seriously as they should. And it will do our standing no good when it is reported to Brussels, as undoubtedly it will. We are very good at demanding from Europe to uphold our own rights as EU citizens; unfortunately we are not as diligent in ensuring their application to other Europeans in Cyprus.
