The government is creating budgetary surplus for its two presidential candidates instead of supporting society

 

Statements by the General Secretary of AKEL S.Stefanou:

17 October 2022, ‘Dialogos’ portal

AKEL General Secretary Stefanos Stefanou criticises the government for its social insensitivity, stressing that although it has the responsibility of taking measures to provide relief to households and businesses, it prefers to support the privileged few and make budgetary surpluswith the money from citizens’ taxes, while referring to the Supreme Court bills that have been approved by Parliament to impose a cap on the price of electricity and fuel.

S.Stefanou underlined that the government is telling half the truth when it says that external factors have led to the price increases, criticising the government for pursuing erroneous policies and of incompetence in the handling of the energy sector, resulting in citizens being burdened even more today.

The General Secretary of AKEL recalled that the government announced three times since 2017 that it would bring natural gas and three times it has cancelled these plans, while the €200 million fine that was imposed for pollutants from the use of fuel oil and oil for electricity generation continues to be paid.

S.Stefanou also accused the government of doing nothing even though there was a decision by the Competition Commission that a cartel existed between companies and petrol stations owned by them in the fuel sector.

The government, he pointed out, has increased revenues of 750 million euros from taxes due to the ongoing price hikes which is expected to exceed 1.3 billion and says it has given 350 million to the people.

The General Secretary of AKEL questioned why the government does not give the rest of the revenues to citizens, adding that it wants to use this money to support its two presidential candidates in the upcoming presidential elections and to create budgetary cushions.