MPs back new parliament building amid mounting repair bills

MPs from all parties on the House finance committee agreed on Friday that a new building for parliament is “urgently needed”, saying the current premises are outdated. The House’s deputy permanent secretary, Andreas Christodoulou, told the committee that “€200,000 was spent on repairs last year alone” and that “health and safety issues will continue to balloon”. While next year’s parliamentary budget includes €30,000 to update the architectural plans, Christodoulou said a new building was a political decision. Committee chairman and Diko MP Chrysis Pantelides urged MPs to proceed unanimously. “We must overcome our fear that we will be blamed by the voters for agreeing to this,” he said. Alma leader Odysseas Michaelides said the first plans were drawn up in 1995 and updated several times, but the transport ministry had shown no willingness to proceed. He suggested the existing building could be used by a department of the civil service. Direct Democracy MP Yiannis Laouris questioned the cost, remarking that “it’s a pity to spend €150 million on a building based on 1995 plans”. Disy’s Demetris Demetriou said parliament needed the self-confidence to go ahead. Akel MP Aristos Damianou lamented that committee rooms could not fit their guests and that parliament, which he called the “temple of democracy”, required upgrading. Parliament’s budget for next year comes to €36.9 million, with €38.2 million a year projected for 2028 and 2029. Staff costs account for €18.5 million, including €6.9 million for MPs’ pay and allowances, whilst transfers, including party funding, come to €12.4 million. The plans include digitising the House archive for 1960 to 1980, using AI tools to record minutes and acquiring equipment to broadcast committee sessions. The House was established in 1960 and sits on Nicosia’s Nehru avenue. Plans for a purpose built home have surfaced repeatedly, for in 2018 the transport ministry named Ayios Georgios hill, known as Pasydy hill, in Nicosia as the projected site. An international architectural competition produced the design, which centres on a circular chamber sunk into the hill. A tender for the building and an adjoining archaeological park was announced in January 2020 at an estimated €95 million. Excavations on the hill had by then uncovered evidence of settlement dating to the Chalcolithic period, in the mid third millennium BC, and cost and delays left the project stalled. Former House speaker Demetris Syllouris floated using the municipal theatre next door as an alternative. The 2026 House budget included €20,000 to update the tender documents, on condition that the government takes a political decision to proceed, putting the cost at roughly €100 million.