Cyprus parliament to formalize committee leadership and composition this Wednesday
The plenary of the House of Representatives will meet this Wednesday at 09:30 to finalize the composition of 16 parliamentary committees and elect members for the Special Committee on Ethics. Prior to this, the Selection Committee will convene at 08:30 to ratify the leadership and member distribution decided last week. Under the agreed-upon structure, DISY and AKEL will each hold five committee chairs, while ELAM and DIKO will hold three each. Specifically, DISY takes Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Health, Legal, and Institutional Affairs; AKEL takes Interior, Labor, Agriculture, Refugee, and Human Rights; ELAM takes Defense, Environment, and Transport; and DIKO maintains Finance, Education, and Audit. Political tensions emerged following the agreement, with AKEL criticizing a perceived alliance between DISY, DIKO, and ELAM, arguing for the political isolation of the far-right. In response, DISY rejected these accusations, labeling them as divisive rhetoric and emphasizing the necessity of parliamentary consensus for the institution's functioning. Prospective chair appointments include Giorgos Karoullas for Foreign Affairs, Fotini Tsiridou for Legal Affairs, Savia Orphanidou for Health, and Nikos Georgiou for Commerce.