Cyprus’s parliament approved amendments to laws governing multiple pensions and retirement benefits for state officials and MPs on Tuesday, following President Nikos Christodoulides’ decision to return the legislation for constitutional improvements.
The president had sent back six laws after 18 months of discussions, proposing specific changes to help ensure their constitutional validity. A parliamentary finance committee meeting on Monday decided to advance some of the Law Office’s recommendations to Tuesday’s plenary session.
However, the revised laws may create new categories of officials exempt from the abolition of controversial retirement benefits, rather than solving the multiple pensions problem entirely.
Key exemptions remain
Under the new decisions, judges, members of the Judicial Service, Public Service Commission members, the Central Bank governor, the attorney general and the deputy attorney general are exempt from the pension reforms due to constitutional protections that prevent parliament from altering their terms mid-tenure.
Parliament adopted some Law Office recommendations but rejected the proposal for a minimum €500 pension payment with suspension of remaining amounts, as this limit would violate property rights and other laws.
DEPA MP Marinos Mousiouttas warned from the parliamentary podium that rejecting all Law Office recommendations created risks and left open the possibility that the laws could ultimately be deemed unconstitutional, even with partial modifications.
Ongoing constitutional risks
Mousiouttas argued that whilst the laws may regulate multiple pension payments to some extent, they not only fail to solve the problem but create a new class of officials exempt from the legislation.
He maintained that a government bill, unlike the six laws submitted by MPs, would have resolved the issue properly.
Other MPs defended the laws as solving the problem in the best possible way with limited room for improvement.
MP Andreas Themistokleous argued that abolishing multiple pensions and officials’ retirement benefits would only result in positions being sought by those with financial means.
Even lawmakers who voted for the amendments acknowledged uncertainty about their constitutional validity. DISY MP Onoufrios Koulla, commenting on Law Office concerns about unconstitutionality, said the Law Office “is not infallible”.
Two scenarios ahead
Two possibilities now remain: President Christodoulides could refer the laws to the Supreme Constitutional Court since not all Law Office changes were adopted, or he could sign them into effect.
Even if the president signs the laws, affected individuals could still challenge their constitutionality in court, leaving the legislation’s future uncertain despite parliament’s approval.