The President insists on distorting reality
Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 19th April 2016, Nicosia
President Anastasiades as expected defended his administration’s actions. However what isn’t expected is for him to persist in painting a rosy picture of reality, even more so when he distorts it. On the contrary, one would expect a President of the Republic to muster the political courage to make admissions and be self-critical if and where needed and not what Mr. Anastasiades did by making a cunning self-criticism not about the acceptance of the catastrophic, for the banks and for the Cyprus economy, haircut on bank deposits, but about the very pledge he made to the people. In doing so he again shifted the responsibility elsewhere, namely on to the previous government. Hence, while during the presidential pre-election campaign he was constantly saying that he would inherit a scorched earth economy, eventually he subsequently decided that it is more convenient for him to claim that he didn’t know the magnitude of the problems and that he was supposedly taken aback. In any case, thank goodness he shifted on AKEL’s back the pledge he undertook and not on the people.
From there on, it is extremely worrying that the President of the Republic believes that we should remain firmly on the road to success, the so-called “success story”, since according to the government everything is progressing wonderfully and illustriously and therefore nothing should change in the policies being implemented by the government.
That is to say, the leadership of DISY party and the Anastasiades Government want to continue without any deviations:
– The policy that has led to wage cuts in the private sector for 12 consecutive quarters, which represents the biggest reduction in wages in Europe.
– The policy that has turned Cyprus into the most unequal society in Europe, after the Baltic countries.
– The policy that means that our country continues to register the worst records in spending on social benefits, health expenditure, in the increase of long-term unemployment, non-performing loans, in the increase of the public debt and with regards many other important economic and social indexes.
– To appoint to public posts “the excellent of the excellent”, such as the dismissed Deputy Attorney General, for the sake of whom the President of the Republic has reiterated he will testify before the Court as a witness for the defence.
– On the path of confrontation with almost all independent officials, on the path of government authoritarianism and arbitrariness.
– On the path of deregulations to the detriment of working people and society, at the same time as significant reforms such as the National Health Scheme are deferred indefinitely because large private, mainly insurance interests aren’t served.
– With the plunder of public wealth and assets, such as the profitable Semi-governmental organizations, at the same time as they also want our people and workers to pay the cost of the robbery committed by the banks.
Citizens in a few weeks can make the difference. Citizens can and will send a strong message for an end to such policies and the charting of an alternative path that will restore the rights, pride and the perspective in our country.
