Interior Minister to launch autumn push to cut number of deputy mayors

Local governmentmayorparliamentTop News Interior Minister to launch autumn push to cut number of deputy mayors Antidimarxoi 1200x623 1 1024x532 Relevant News Interior Minister to launch autumn push to cut number of deputy mayors 5 August 2026 Temperature slightly lowers, 38 degree peak Wednesday 5 August 2026 President Christodoulides reshuffles cabinet with boosted DIKO presence 4 August 2026 Ioanna Kyriakou 5 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Autumn is expected to be a decisive period for reducing the number of deputy mayors in Cyprus, with Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou taking the initiative to hold talks with all parties involved, according to information obtained by Phileleftheros. The minister will sound out both the Union of Municipalities and the parliamentary parties on the issue, Phileleftheros has learned. Ioannou is expected to focus, among other things, on the drawbacks of keeping all 93 deputy mayors in place, some of whom are in conflict with their own mayors, sources told Phileleftheros. A prime example is the Municipality of Polis Chrysochous, which has 13 deputy mayors, some of whom are in ongoing conflict with the mayor, complaining of being sidelined and criticising him over hiring decisions and other actions. Similar, though smaller-scale, problems causing dysfunction have been observed in other municipalities. How many deputy mayors should there be? The assessment is that the ideal scenario would be one deputy mayor per municipality, though this is considered impossible to adopt, at least at this stage. An intermediate approach points to a range of 35-45 deputy mayors. This is not because that number is seen as matching the actual operational needs of local government, but as a “golden mean” to avoid sharp disputes that could derail any effort to reduce the numbers. Supporters of a drastic reduction cite the example of Strovolos Municipality. Because it did not merge with another local authority, it elects only one deputy mayor despite being Cyprus’s second-largest municipality by population. They point out that having only one deputy mayor has not caused dysfunction there. An alternative scenario under consideration would link the number of deputy mayors to each municipality’s population. Municipalities with a population under 20,000 would elect one deputy mayor, while those with a population above 20,000 would elect two to three. This would mean a drastic reduction in the number of deputy mayors in the municipalities of Polis Chrysochous and Lefkara. Polis Chrysochous currently has 13 deputy mayors, while Lefkara has seven. Western Limassol Municipality has eight, and other municipalities with relatively small populations also have relatively high numbers of deputy mayors. Redefining the role Another aspect the Interior Minister is expected to raise concerns the role of deputy mayors under the new arrangement, should it be approved. Ioannou reportedly believes deputy mayors should not represent a specific municipal district, where they may focus their efforts, but the municipality as a whole. He is said to believe each deputy mayor should take responsibility for a specific area, such as cleanliness or culture, rather than representing only the district they come from. This approach is expected to prevent or reduce disputes between deputy mayors from different districts within the same municipality. Implementing this arrangement is considered to require the approval of the Union of Municipalities, since it would involve transferring some of the mayors’ responsibilities to deputy mayors. Beyond the question of numbers and roles, the Interior Minister is also expected to raise the cost of running municipalities for the state and, by extension, for taxpayers, given that taxpayers pay around €2.5 million a year for the salaries of the 93 deputy mayors. Deputy mayors earn between €717 and €2,987 a month, depending on municipality population Under current legislation and the results of the last election, the 93 deputy mayors’ salaries range from €717 to €2,987 a month, depending on the population of each municipality. How the pay structure was set These salaries have already been reduced from the original bill, which had proposed a salary equal to 50% of the mayor’s salary for all deputy mayors. In the end, the view prevailed that it would be provocative for a deputy mayor of a municipal district with 50-100 voters to be paid around €2,500 a month without substantive responsibilities. Under the original scenario, deputy mayors’ pay would have been around 50% of mayors’ salaries, which reach €65,000 a year, bringing the total payroll to €1.3 million. Under that scenario, each deputy mayor’s salary would have been €32,500, with the total cost rising to €3 million. For a complete picture, it should be noted that deputy mayors’ pay had been used as an incentive to persuade affected community leaders to accept the incorporation of their communities into the 20 new municipalities. These arrangements were under discussion during the previous government’s term. When the new government took office, the Interior Minister raised the issue of reducing the initially proposed pay, which was ultimately approved by Parliament. Phileleftheros understands that if the minister does not receive a positive response to his effort, he will submit a relevant proposal to Parliament, shifting responsibility to the political parties. Issue also with number of municipalities Beyond the deputy mayors issue, an even more sensitive question concerns the number of municipalities, though the political alignments involved make it difficult to address, and whoever does so is expected to face a political cost. British experts who studied the issue concluded that five municipalities would be sufficient for Cyprus. Discussion later moved to ten, and in November 2020, then-Interior Minister Nicos Nouris proposed increasing the number of municipalities to 17. Discussion and negotiation followed, with Parliament debating the creation of 22 municipalities. Ultimately, as part of the local government reform, Parliament approved merging the existing 30 municipalities into 20, which remains the situation today and may continue for several years. 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