AKEL ON GOVERNMENT STATEMENTS ON THE HAIRCUT ON DEPOSITS

 

 

Statements by Stavros Evagorou, Deputy Parliamentary Spokesman of AKEL-Left-New Forces, Press Office C.C AKEL,

9th April 2013, Nicosia

 

We were told that when the question of the haircut was raised at the Eurogroup session the President and the government was taken by surprise.

 

This is what President Anastasiades said when briefing the leaders of the political parties, namely that he didn’t know that the issue of the haircut on the deposits would be raised and that if such a matter were to be raised he already had alternative proposals.

 

At the same time on the eve of the Eurogroup, the Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides stated the following: “What the Government would like to assure is that under no circumstance is there any question of an issue being raised concerning the haircut on deposits or cuts in wages and pensions. The Government has social sensitivity, not in words but in practice and this will be confirmed by the result”.

 

Regretfully for our people the result was tragic and the Government’s social sensitivity proved to be mere hot air.

 

The misleading briefing of the political leaders by President Anastasiades that he supposedly didn’t know about the haircut on deposits and that he was caught unaware has also been refuted by the statements issued by the General Attorney of the Republic of Cyprus Petros Clerides in the television programme SIGMA “60 Minutes” where he said in verbatim the following: “Regarding the haircut, a Directive had come in recent days , quite recent, that was taken by one of the senior officials of the Attorney’s office and he informed me that legislation providing for a haircut on deposits must be prepared”.

 

This clearly demonstrates that the government not only knew but rushed to prepare the relevant legislation, in essence predetermining the outcome. Namely, that despite the unequivocal pledges of those in government that they would not under any circumstances accept a haircut on bank deposits, in reality they had accepted it even before the session of the Eurogroup began. Similar statements were also made by the former Minister of Finance.

 

AKEL considers that apart from the moral dimension, that is to say, the deliberate disinformation of the political leaders another much more serious issue is raised.

 

Given that the President of the Republic knew about the haircut, he could have consulted and called for the views of the political parties so that our own side could have been prepared in view of the Eurogroup session. Unfortunately, he didn’t do this either.