All that President Anastasiades said is at variance with what people are living through
Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 8th April 2016, Nicosia
President Anastasiades, like his Ministers too, is participating in the DISY campaign with pre-election conferences. His participation in DISY’s election campaign is a negative development for democratic institutions. In Cyprus there is a clear separation between executive and legislative power. Nonetheless, the President is taking part in a pre-election campaign for parliamentary elections.
- Instead of proposing solutions as President, three years in to his term of office, he shirks his responsibilities and as a party leader is repeating the usual slogan that it is the previous government that is to blame for everything.
- What President Anastasiades said is at variance with what people are living through in Cyprus. If his government has indeed done significant work then why are the conditions working people, pensioners, young people and families in Cyprus facing getting worse?
- Once again he appeared to regard being liked by foreigners rather than being beneficial to our people as a priority.
- President Anastasiades mentioned the sharp drop in GDP in the first half of 2013 as one of the factors that forced him to accept the haircut on bank deposits. He subsequently went on to invoke the great improvement in the Cyprus economy. However the huge drop in GDP during this period is due to the acceptance by President Anastasiades of the haircut, that is to say the seizure of deposits.
- Even more so when he strongly defended the decision for the haircut on bank deposits, not understanding the effects it had on the economy; a haircut however which remains guiltless, given that no one assumes the responsibility for the criminal idea of seizing deposits from the first euro.
- The President mentioned that 600 million Euros in investments have been made during the three years of his administration. What he didn’t say is that the budget for development projects has been cut in the name of austerity.
- He talked about restoring the credibility of the State and as an example he gave the reduction in the number of public servants. However it is his Government that has recently proposed to transfer the employees in the Semi-governmental Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA) to the Public Service so that it can fulfill the plans for private capital to loot CYTA.
- What the President of the Republic forgot to say in his lengthy press conference speech on the economy is the common people who during his administration have seen the dismantling of the welfare state, the degradation of education and health, the loss of jobs, deregulation of labour relations to the benefit of employers, insecurity, the emigration of young people and citizen’s economic inability to meet their basic needs.
