The President of the Republic, Nikos Anastasiades, will refer to the Supreme Court a law passed by the Parliament which transfers the authority to commemorate the 1950 referendum on union with Greece from the House of Representatives to the Ministry of Education.

The decision comes after Attorney General Costas Clerides said in an opinion that the law may be unconstitutional, Deputy Government Spokesman Viktoras Papadopoulos said today.

In statements to journalists at the Presidential Palace, Papadopoulos said that following the opinion of the Attorney General, the President will refer the law to the Supreme Court, because the Attorney General`s opinion says there may be unconstitutional provisions regarding the separation of powers.

Asked what the President would do if the Supreme Court rules that the law is unconstitutional, Papadopoulos said that “we should wait until the court ruling”.

The Cyprus House plenary passed on April 7, a bill tabled by the ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) party for a legislative amendment to shift decision-making power on school celebrations from the Parliament to the Ministry of Education.

The bill was tabled by three DISY MPs in the aftermath of a dispute caused by the introduction of a brief annual commemoration of the 1950 Enosis (union with Greece) referendum in state schools, prompting Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci to withdraw from the reunification talks until the decision was rescinded.

Talks for a Cyprus solution resumed on April 11. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in the talks since May 2015 with a view to reunited the island, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974, under a federal roof.