Government’s “success story” has nothing to do with the reality our people are experiencing
Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 18th April 2016, Nicosia
In his second pre-election press conference in a row, President Anastasiades again spoke as if he was a party leader and not as his institutional role demands.
Of course this government, like any other, cannot but have produced some work that it should be credited with. Beyond that however, President Anastasiades, in his introductory speech that went on for more than one hour, attempted in a provocative way to again project a “success story” that has nothing to do whatsoever with the reality our people are experiencing, as this is reflected in the miserable first places that our country maintains in recent years with regards numerous important economic and social indicators.
President Anastasiades, for example, claimed that they have turned “the crisis into an opportunity” and created a “real Welfare State”. However, according to the latest figures released by “Eurostat”, expenditure on social protection in Cyprus has reached 25% of public expenditure, in comparison to 40.4% in the EU. Furthermore, in Cyprus expenditure in the health sector, which is on its knees, amounts to just 5.5%, compared with 15% in the EU, whilst in these three years the Anastasiades government has spent €330 million less in the public health sector.
The pledge to appoint “the excellent of the excellent” to public posts, such as the dismissed Deputy Attorney General, remained yet another broken pledge, with Mr. Anastasiades stating that he will go to court as a defense witness of Mr. Erotokritou. Institutions in general have suffered the consequences. Authoritarianism is a characteristic feature of the government’s practice, while the government and ruling forces have clashed openly with most independent officials…
Important reforms such as the National Health System have been deferred indefinitely, while others have ended up being deregulations in the hands of the government.
This is AKEL’s first reaction to the President’s press conference.
