Newsroom
Nearly 100 deputy mayors across Cyprus have been collecting taxpayer-funded salaries for the past nine months — without having any official duties assigned to them — due to loopholes in the local government reform, sparking frustration among both the public and the officials themselves.
The 93 deputy mayors were elected in June 2024 as part of Cyprus' sweeping local government overhaul, which aimed to streamline municipalities and improve services. However, almost a year later, the reform has left them in a bizarre limbo — paid regularly, but without statutory responsibilities.
Their role is entirely at the discretion of the mayor, who can assign tasks on a voluntary basis. But even these duties are not defined by law, leaving many deputies with nothing to do while their salaries — ranging from €20,000 to nearly €39,000 per year — keep rolling in.
“We’re Not Comfortable”
Yermasoyia Deputy Mayor Christos Papamichael, who represents the coordination group of deputy mayors, openly admitted that the situation is embarrassing. "We're not comfortable with this. We want to work, but there is no legal framework for us to have duties," Papamichael told CyBC radio on Monday.
He criticised the government for dragging its feet on fixing the issue, despite knowing about the loophole for two years before the elections. A bill to clarify the role of deputy mayors was finally submitted to parliament in January, but no debate has started yet — leaving the deputies still in the dark.
"The law was flawed from the beginning. The government had plenty of time to correct it, but they did nothing," he said.
Double Spending with Appointed Mayors
Papamichael also slammed the government’s decision to appoint 209 community mayors alongside the elected deputy mayors, particularly in small communities where the two roles overlap. Many of these appointees had lost in the elections to the current deputies, creating a confusing double-spending scenario where two people are paid to essentially do one job.
"Why did they appoint 209 mayors when they could have assigned their duties to us? We’re already paid by the taxpayer," Papamichael argued.
He added that some of the appointed mayors have even started asking for offices — raising fears that the whole reform is turning into a bloated bureaucracy instead of the streamlined system it was meant to be.
Ministry Defends Appointments
Responding to the backlash, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kyriakou said the government was simply following the law when appointing community mayors.
"The government fulfilled its obligation under the legislation," she told CyBC, adding that the bill to define the duties of deputy mayors was submitted in January but has yet to be discussed in parliament.
She admitted, however, that the final decision still rests with each mayor. "If the mayor sees fit, they can delegate more powers to their deputy," she said.
Deputy Mayors Demand Action
The deputy mayors are now calling for the revocation of the 209 appointments and for parliament to urgently approve the stalled bill that would give them proper responsibilities.
A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday in Limassol, where they will decide their next steps.
With the local government reform already facing mounting criticism, the saga of the paid-but-idle deputy mayors risks becoming a symbol of wasted taxpayer money — and a major political headache for the government.
