President Nikos Christodoulides must make his final decision by 30 July at the latest on whether to accept the new legal framework voted by parliament for multiple pensions for state officials.
Parliament’s plenary session approved the legislation on 10 July. Following incorporation of approved amendments and completion of texts by parliament’s service, the legislation was sent to the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, 16 July.
President Christodoulides has 15 days from that date to make his position known.
Technocrats from the Finance Ministry and Law Office are in open communication, examining the new legislation’s provisions one by one.
From their initial findings, technocrats appear to identify some constitutional issues. Additionally, they consider that due to the legislation’s complexity, its practical implementation is difficult.
The president’s constitutional options are to sign the new legislation and put it into effect, directly refer the legislation to the Supreme Court, or return it to parliament for the body to re-examine and modify it.
Although direct referral to the court initially gained ground, the return of the law on Creation of Livestock Areas and the need for parliament to reconvene to examine it, strengthens the possibility that the multiple pensions legislation could also be returned if deemed unconstitutional.
What concerns the government side is avoiding repetition of the scenario that emerged during the Christofias administration.
Then, parliament had approved legislation abolishing multiple pensions for state officials, which, however, following an appeal by those affected to the courts, was deemed unconstitutional, as pensions are considered a property element.
Should the president sign the new legislation and it subsequently be deemed incompatible with the constitution by the court, it would complicate the situation further. Consequently, all possibilities will remain on the table and under consideration until the last moment.
Under the new legal framework, pension rights of existing and former state officials are secured until 1 June 2026, whilst new officials will be covered by the new legal framework.
