Nicosia, Cyprus. The House plenum on Wednesday decided the composition of its committees following the May 24 parliamentary elections, in a process marked by disagreements over procedural and participation issues. A total of 16 committees were set up, with Disy and Akel chairing five each and Diko and Elam three each.
Committee leadership distribution
Disy retained control of the foreign affairs, energy, legal, health and institutions committees, which it also chaired throughout the previous parliament.
Akel also retained control of the five committees it chaired during the previous parliament: interior, agriculture, labour, human rights and refugee affairs.
Diko will chair the finance, education and audit committees, while Elam will chair defence, environment and transport.
Special committees
The three special committees on capital statements “pothen esches”, parliament regulations and ethics, as well as the ad hoc committee for the modernisation of House regulations, are chaired ex officio by House president Annita Demetriou.
Objections during proceedings
At the start of the procedure, Direct Democracy MP Diana Constantinides objected to the absence of a committee on AI and social media, saying the issues were already part of the public’s daily life.
House president Annita Demetriou said the committee had not been approved, but the proposal would be examined at a later date.
Party positions
Akel parliamentary spokesman Giorgos Loukaides said his party respected the outcome of the parliamentary elections, but said Akel “could not and would not” support MPs from Elam for committee leaderships and would vote against all Elam candidacies.
Disy parliamentary spokesman Demetris Demetriou said Akel’s position was respected, but that committee posts should be allocated fairly.
