Pamboridis proposes replacing constitution in Disy leadership bid

George Pamboridis has called for Cyprus to replace its 1960 Constitution with a new charter, setting out the proposal as the centrepiece of his bid for the Disy nomination in a policy speech to journalists on Thursday. The former health minister told reporters the island needed “a new, functional, modern and European constitution” that would introduce institutional counterweights across state activity. He said it must not weaken the sovereignty of the Republic and should act “as a lever for development and not as a hindrance”. His argument rests on the legal consequences of 1963, when Turkish Cypriots withdrew their posts in the state following the constitutional crisis. The 1960 constitution assigned set roles to both communities, and its provisions could not be applied without them, thus the Supreme Court responded by applying the doctrine of necessity, which allows state bodies to function when strict adherence to the Constitution would make that impossible. The doctrine has since underpinned legislation and the running of the state, and critics argue it was never meant to be permanent. Pamboridis said such a situation had facilitated a state without proper checks on power, tying the issue to public concern about corruption, which he said had “spread into every facet of public life”. Until a new constitution is agreed, he said, the state should create specific offences for public officials, rebuild its mechanisms for punishing wrongdoing and guarantee that investigations are free from supervision. Turning to the Cyprus problem, he said the party was founded to resolve it and that this aim had not changed. He criticised what he described as prolonged inaction while Turkey “consolidated the status quo”, stressing that he would never accept any two-state solution, “no matter how ambitiously some try to call it”. He said that if “the armed struggle for liberation was not an option” for the Greek Cypriot side, the only route was the one set out in United Nations resolutions, “however painful”. That solution, he said, would turn the Republic into a unified European state “without occupation troops, without invasive rights and without outdated guarantees”. Pamboridis said talks should resume from where they stopped in 2017, however If Turkey continued to “refuse to return to negotiations, Cyprus should likewise refuse to allow the expansion of EU relations with Ankara in all areas”. He described Greece as the island’s “only real strategic partner” and called for closer ties with Egypt, Israel and the United States. He also said Cyprus should strengthen its defences and consider its relationship with Nato “without ideological fixations and dogmatism”. Full membership, he said, should be considered only if it consolidated Turkey’s exclusion from the whole island. On the cost of living, Pamboridis said the previous generation could often cover housing, education and holidays on a single wage. Today, he said, “even two wages are not enough to cover basic needs” for many families. He proposed that the state act as guarantor for young people seeking mortgages, arguing that banks hold high liquidity but will not lend to them. Parents once guaranteed such loans, he said, but falling family purchasing power and changes in bank practice after the financial crisis had made that nearly impossible. Support would depend on income and would cover both low paid workers and the middle class; he also backed rent to own schemes for new couples. On energy, he urged faster introduction of natural gas and quicker electricity links with Crete and Israel, however until then, he said, the state should subsidise lower income households to reduce electricity bills. He described the state’s spending on education as an investment with poor returns and called for a comprehensive review of the system. In the meantime, he said, schools should host afternoon classes in small groups to prepare pupils for university entrance and reduce reliance on private tuition. On transport, Pamboridis decried that the country was “running on autopilot” on traffic and called for scientific study of long-term options such as trains and trams. He criticised the traffic police for being a temporary posting in officers’ careers and said “the complete absence of the police force from the streets is a disgrace”. On the economy, Pamboridis said fiscal stability must be kept and that growth should be measured by its effect on living conditions, well paid jobs and opportunities for young people. He called for a drastic cut in bureaucracy and to expedite the digitisation of public services. He said foreign investment should be chosen for long term value, jobs and the transfer of expertise rather than volume. Furthermore, he added that the state “should not compete with the private sector, nor be an obstacle”. He described the health reform in establishing a general health system (Gesy) as a “historic achievement” but said it had been held back by “political cowardice” and “union interests”. Pamboridis lambasted delays in making public hospitals self-managing and in setting up university clinics. He called for medical protocols for each procedure, tougher oversight of providers and patients, and “zero tolerance” of abusing Gesy. He argued that policy in Cyprus treated symptoms rather than prevention and that “subsidies alone do not create social well-being”. Pamboridis said the party fell into “an unprecedented dead end” in 2023, when its voters were pulled in different directions. He called for the party to move away from “old mindsets” and behind the scenes dealings, and described his platform as a “radical centre right” focused on reform.