Paphos Life

Post-Brexit, British permanent residents in Cyprus are not allowed to vote and stand in local elections ??? unlike the case before the country???s divorce from the EU.This is what Philenews reported on Friday citing insiders from both the Interior Ministry and that of the Foreign Affairs....

Read the article and chat about it below...

Joys of Brexit.

Exactly how many people will really be affected by this? I did vote in local elections, and voted in UK general elections too, but I was definitely in the minority. As for standing for election - not many British people would have had the desire to do this.
Bit of a non-news story - but let's blame Brexit - in 10 years time it will still be blamed for everything that is wrong with the world. Time to move on - if you can't change it stop moaning about!! No wonder the British are known as whinging poms - only happy when they are miserable.

Lucky Lady wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 9:34 am Exactly how many people will really be affected by this? I did vote in local elections, and voted in UK general elections too, but I was definitely in the minority. As for standing for election - not many British people would have had the desire to do this.
Bit of a non-news story - but let's blame Brexit - in 10 years time it will still be blamed for everything that is wrong with the world. Time to move on - if you can't change it stop moaning about!! No wonder the British are known as whinging poms - only happy when they are miserable.

It affects the people who would of liked to vote, as for your ''only the minority voted'', you dont have any official numbers, its just speculation on your part.

I accept that - I can only say that of the British people I know, I am in the minority. Most of them were not interested in voting anywhere!!!

Lots of British people voted in the last Polemi elections, and turned out at the hustings to hear the various candidates speak. They are more important locally than the UK local elections.

You may be in complete denial over brexit, Lucky Lady, but it doesn't make it any less tangible. You may also want to consider widening your circle of friends.

I have been in Cyprus for 24 years and, prior to that, in Switzerland for 35 years. In neither case, even where it were possible, I never voted. Why? Simply because I don't believe that I was sufficiently informed to do so, despite following the politics from local to national levels. Yes, I knew what was going on but I did not feel that poking my neb into the little why's and wherefore's was correct, even where I could. In other words, I trust that the eligible locally born citizens should carry the weight of the decisions, rather than allow foreigners to distort the political landscape. Of course, that did not stop me from discussing political issues over 3 dL of wine or a bottle of Keo, so that I did have a good knowledge of what was going on despite my refusing to participate in any voting.

Strange! The last time the municipal elections came round (about 5 years ago) I was able to vote. I would have thought that legal residents would be able to vote albeit only in local elections. The difference maybe because of Brexit, but I would have thought that democracy would supersede this. Does this also apply to other legally resident nationalities or just to Brits?

Does this mean that mean that the Cypriot authorities will also refuse to accept donations of money and equipment from organisations composed of British legal residents?

Varky wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 4:48 pm Strange! The last time the municipal elections came round (about 5 years ago) I was able to vote. I would have thought that legal residents would be able to vote albeit only in local elections. The difference maybe because of Brexit, but I would have thought that democracy would supersede this. Does this also apply to other legally resident nationalities or just to Brits?

Does this mean that mean that the Cypriot authorities will also refuse to accept donations of money and equipment from organisations composed of British legal residents?

Being a member of the EU allowed British Residents to vote in the local and European elections. After Brexit we lost the option which I believe is a decision by the Cypriot government possibly because they don't want to give all the other Third Country Nationals the right to vote.

Varky wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 4:48 pm Strange! The last time the municipal elections came round (about 5 years ago) I was able to vote. I would have thought that legal residents would be able to vote albeit only in local elections. The difference maybe because of Brexit, but I would have thought that democracy would supersede this. Does this also apply to other legally resident nationalities or just to Brits?

Does this mean that mean that the Cypriot authorities will also refuse to accept donations of money and equipment from organisations composed of British legal residents?

Uk expats only had the right to vote because we were all European citizens, since the UK left the club, it cannot receive the benefits of that club, its the same for all third country nationals, not only the Brits, simple, trying to tie in charitable donations given to good causes by expats, is really a red herring.


You as a resident of Cyprus have the right to apply to become a Cypriot citizen, which will give you the same rights as all other Cypriots/EU citizens.

Jim B wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 5:06 pm

Varky wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 4:48 pm Strange! The last time the municipal elections came round (about 5 years ago) I was able to vote. I would have thought that legal residents would be able to vote albeit only in local elections. The difference maybe because of Brexit, but I would have thought that democracy would supersede this. Does this also apply to other legally resident nationalities or just to Brits?

Does this mean that mean that the Cypriot authorities will also refuse to accept donations of money and equipment from organisations composed of British legal residents?

Being a member of the EU allowed British Residents to vote in the local and European elections. After Brexit we lost the option which I believe is a decision by the Cypriot government possibly because they don't want to give all the other Third Country Nationals the right to vote.

I don't know of any other EU country that allows third country nationals to vote in EU elections

Surely if you love the UK so much you would want to stay there, vote and make a difference?!

Or is it easier to live in the sun, pay less tax and have a cheaper and better standard of living but then complain because the people that do live in the UK voted for what they wanted and got?

The Aquila wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:10 pm Surely if you love the UK so much you would want to stay there, vote and make a difference?!

Or is it easier to live in the sun, pay less tax and have a cheaper and better standard of living but then complain because the people that do live in the UK voted for what they wanted and got?

Like many I'm not really interested in being able to vote on domestic policies which affect people in the UK but I am interested in voting on policies that affect my family which are presently denied to me.
We may pay less tax than some in the UK but many of us pay a dammed sight more than many who live there and have the vote. Also we get few if any benefits that we contributed towards unlike those who decided to stay.
I didn't leave the UK for the sun or a better standard of living, like many I went to get work and not be a parasite on the state after Thatcher decided to turn the economy into a service industry and the UK lost all its heavy industry.
Maybe if you were affected you would have a different outlook.

Jim B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:36 am

The Aquila wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:10 pm Surely if you love the UK so much you would want to stay there, vote and make a difference?!

Or is it easier to live in the sun, pay less tax and have a cheaper and better standard of living but then complain because the people that do live in the UK voted for what they wanted and got?

Like many I'm not really interested in being able to vote on domestic policies which affect people in the UK but I am interested in voting on policies that affect my family which are presently denied to me.
We may pay less tax than some in the UK but many of us pay a dammed sight more than many who live there and have the vote. Also we get few if any benefits that we contributed towards unlike those who decided to stay.
I didn't leave the UK for the sun or a better standard of living, like many I went to get work and not be a parasite on the state after Thatcher decided to turn the economy into a service industry and the UK lost all its heavy industry.
Maybe if you were affected you would have a different outlook.

Take out Cypriot citizenship, then you will be able to vote on things that affect your family,

I seem to remember somewhere in history that a war of independence was fought under the the slogan "No taxation without representation".

WHL wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:01 am

Jim B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:36 am

The Aquila wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 10:10 pm Surely if you love the UK so much you would want to stay there, vote and make a difference?!

Or is it easier to live in the sun, pay less tax and have a cheaper and better standard of living but then complain because the people that do live in the UK voted for what they wanted and got?

Like many I'm not really interested in being able to vote on domestic policies which affect people in the UK but I am interested in voting on policies that affect my family which are presently denied to me.
We may pay less tax than some in the UK but many of us pay a dammed sight more than many who live there and have the vote. Also we get few if any benefits that we contributed towards unlike those who decided to stay.
I didn't leave the UK for the sun or a better standard of living, like many I went to get work and not be a parasite on the state after Thatcher decided to turn the economy into a service industry and the UK lost all its heavy industry.
Maybe if you were affected you would have a different outlook.

Take out Cypriot citizenship, then you will be able to vote on things that affect your family,

WHL
I wasn't referring to Cyprus I was answering Aguilas comment regarding the UK, I paid a he'll of alot of taxes over the years and I'm still payng my share and as Varky wrote, why should there be taxation without representation.

Jim B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:36 am

WHL wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:01 am

Jim B wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:36 am

Like many I'm not really interested in being able to vote on domestic policies which affect people in the UK but I am interested in voting on policies that affect my family which are presently denied to me.
We may pay less tax than some in the UK but many of us pay a dammed sight more than many who live there and have the vote. Also we get few if any benefits that we contributed towards unlike those who decided to stay.
I didn't leave the UK for the sun or a better standard of living, like many I went to get work and not be a parasite on the state after Thatcher decided to turn the economy into a service industry and the UK lost all its heavy industry.
Maybe if you were affected you would have a different outlook.

Take out Cypriot citizenship, then you will be able to vote on things that affect your family,

WHL
I wasn't referring to Cyprus I was answering Aguilas comment regarding the UK, I paid a he'll of alot of taxes over the years and I'm still payng my share and as Varky wrote, why should there be taxation without representation.

Simple answer, why should you be allowed to vote in a country's elections and decide the way a country is run, when you arnt committed enough to that country, by not taking up citizenship of that country, it seems to me, some expats want to have their cake and to eat it.

Is it not true that there are far more permanent Cypriot residents who are living in the UK, who have been able to vote in all the UK elections?
Maybe it is possible to find out if their situation has changed since the UK exit from the EU?
Both Tala and Peyia have had active English representatives on their Community Councils who have done sterling work previously..
Dee

As far as I am aware you cannot vote in Uk elections if you have been out of the country for 15 years. By out I mean not registered for council tax etc.

Varky wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:23 am I seem to remember somewhere in history that a war of independence was fought under the the slogan "No taxation without representation".

Look forward to you rounding up the expats from their local watering holes and Calvary's, and starting that war, good luck