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Speech by President of DISY and Speaker of the House of Representatives Anita Demetriou on the 2024 Budgets
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are going through a difficult period. An agenda of war, economic crisis, energy crisis, crisis of principles and democracy. And it is a political scene so complex and complicated that we are called upon to put away populist political approaches and even anachronistic attempts to eliminate political "opponents" through whispers, underground and anonymous blows.
We are in politics to take positions on political positions and our differences are political not personal so it would be good to leave aside anything that is not about politics per se and has to do with expediency and interests, concepts incompatible with the purpose and reason we are in this space.
We are called upon to modernise our political discourse, but above all to ensure that citizens understand what we have to manage and what decisions we take that concern them. And let us finally put aside the self-flagellation for past mistakes and omissions. After all, the problems we have to manage are already enough and complex, and extreme political choices that simply cancel and oppose everything cannot be an option, especially in a country that has fought like no other to gain its independence and integrity. We are therefore the ones who need to protect the democracy that was gained through hardships and sacrifices in a country that is still under occupation. After all, that is why the citizens elected us and that is why we are here. Either as individuals or as political formations. For our positions which cannot be differentiated according to who is in power or who we would like to be in power. Our positions are why we belong to or subscribe to a particular ideology or political choice. And it would be good for some people to do their own self-criticism if they have now "put their clothes on differently..."
We have both a position and an opinion in the Democratic Rally. Positions and opinions that are not differentiated in any way because the people have classified us in the opposition. Positions which are expressed daily through our positions, opinions and interventions on every issue. So let us put aside anything that is incompatible and let us take on politicians for our interventions and positions. Let us not also contribute, wittingly or unwittingly, to a pretentious surrounding leveling of everything.
Nevertheless, a responsible attitude does not mean being taken for granted to make this clear and DISY has never been and will never be taken for granted by anyone or anything other than being fully consistent in its positions and principles. In short, any critical issues cannot be left to the responsibility and patriotism of the opposition. Just as, of course, by analogy, the House of Representatives cannot assume responsibilities or roles beyond its constitutionally enshrined authority by bailing out the executive or taking on responsibilities that do not belong to it.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have before us for consideration the State Budget, the supreme legislative act in the midst of tumultuous political developments that demand as a top priority the economic stability of our country through a prudent and consistent fiscal policy. A stable fiscal policy that has never been taken for granted, but instead we have experienced the negative and even disastrous consequences of wrong or disastrous economic approaches, and it is through sacrifices and specific targeting that we have reached the point of having surplus budgets before us. We need to focus on developing an integrated policy strategy across all sectors and let us realise that perhaps the crisis is now our current normality, which does not mean simply managing - i.e. running behind developments - but requires vision, foresight and long-term planning. Only in this way can we demonstrate that we really care about our place. For us, nihilistic practices have never been and will never be an option for political manipulation. We evaluate, measure data and perspectives, identify gaps and omissions and intervene where and when necessary, with corrective and targeted moves and even with admissions if and when necessary.
Away from dogmatisms and phobic syndromes we need to be open to innovative ideas and reform policies. As we have done and laid the groundwork by promoting all the major reforms for our country: GESY, local government, justice, public service, social policy.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are called to vote on the main economic policy guidelines of the government's programme. On the one hand, we are pleased that it incorporates most of the ambitious actions, which were wheeled out by the previous government and included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan with a particular focus on the green and digital transition. However, our most fundamental finding is that this budget is not imbued with anything new, a new project, a leading vision for the country and new perspectives for citizens.
Development perspectives that will respond to the new realities and constant challenges, as they emerge and mutate every day with what is happening around us. By further strengthening the traditional pillars of the economy but also by promoting the further development of new sectors.
Prospects that ensure better days for citizens: households, the middle class and small and medium-sized enterprises that have been hit hardest by successive crises, price rises, rising lending rates, high energy prices, prohibitive housing costs and inflationary trends.
Instead, we have seen rigidity and procrastination on the part of the government to reinstate the subsidy measures on electricity and fuel, turning a deaf ear to our repeated warnings that their suspension would mathematically bring a resurgence of inflation.
Unfortunately, we see the same scenario repeating itself on the issue of increasing inflexible spending, tying up public finances for several years. Yes, the careful fiscal policies of the DISY decade have strengthened the resilience and dynamism of the economy and created a very good background for the current government to present a surplus budget, which also provides for a further reduction of the public debt, but we cannot fail to express for the umpteenth time our strong concern about the upward trend of the state wage bill by 14% in just one year.
We cannot fail to point out the medium- and long-term risk arising from the swelling of the State's permanent inelastic expenditure, with the release of a record 2,400 posts in just nine months and at a time when exogenous factors are far from predictable. Has a forecasting and costing study really been done, colleagues, and are all these posts an absolute priority in a complex economic period? and what is the impact on public finances in the medium and long term especially if the complexity of political developments and crises not only continues but becomes more complex?
We believe that it can be anything but surprising that our concern as officially stated and it is our duty to record based on our own projections and assessments that this comes at the expense of other policy making regarding the effective support of vulnerable groups of the population, our sick people, young couples, low pensioners, families with three or more children, our refugee population, otherwise pre-election announcements that have been hushed up...
Our concern, our work and our concern is to formulate policies within the framework of budgetary discipline. And we have proven that we can do it properly, we have proven that we can successfully and adequately respond to the stakes and challenges at hand through a prudent holistic fiscal policy of ten years, from which we have emerged from a deep fiscal and financial crisis, achieved high rates of growth, increased state revenues, and even reduced taxes rather than imposing them, giving citizens hope and prospects again.
This gives us the right to demand from the government of the day, to wisely rise to the occasion, in these difficult and unpredictable times. And we are here, precisely, to assist with specific policies and proposals in this direction, costed and always within the budgetary possibilities of the state.
Specifically, in relation to the budget for 2024, which is before us today, the Democratic Rally submitted a series of costed corrective proposals, which, however, were not adopted by the government, with the sole exception of the very important project of creating a National Cancer Institute, which, while initially frozen, was not adopted by the government, and which was not adopted by the government. Something which was urgently and unanimously raised by the Parliamentary Health Committee, with a request for the inclusion in the state budget of a 4 million euro allocation and by myself personally in a letter to the President of the Republic of Cyprus. I am disappointed to say that we are finding that we have not been listened to on such a sensitive issue with human and humanitarian dimensions, to which the state has an obligation to assist, and this is something that we will of course keep a close eye on.
- Promotion of taxation on family income so that all middle-class families where both spouses work, enjoy a total tax-free income of 39000 euros, a proposal that was put forward by DISY during the pre-election period and we believe it is a correction of a distortion with significant financial support to households.
- Gradual abolition of the annual company tax of 350 euros, a position that was co-formulated with other political forces within the Parliament.
- Broadening, improving and simplifying the procedures for the "Photovoltaics for All" project, so that it is practically applicable, with emphasis on the vulnerable categories of the population.
- Returning the 0.4% fee passed by the House to the Equal Burden Sharing Agency to provide the yeast for loss of use, which was unanimously passed by the House and regulations are expected to be filed.
- Activation of the Solidarity Fund within 2024 for clipped depositors and security holders and utilization of its reserve to date of over 200 million euros.
- Extension of maternity leave to 26 weeks from the first child.
- Review of the policy for persons with moderate disabilities so that they continue to be supported for progress and social inclusion.
- Review of the policy for persons with moderate disabilities so that they continue to be supported for progress and social inclusion.
- Increase the support measure for child benefit, particularly for families with three or more children, taking into account inflation over the last two years.
- Improvements in the effectiveness of housing policy for young couples, with a particular focus on removing restrictions on bringing the increased supply of housing onto the market.
- Creation of a single supervisory mechanism with regard to professional services for the enforcement of sanctions and the assumption of responsibility by the state for a comprehensive plan for the promotion of the new, strict framework of Cyprus, for the attraction of foreign quality investments in our country and the consequent re-branding that is required.
I would like to highlight this point in particular, in light of the recent journalistic investigation that has been published.
In any case, our position is that a thorough investigation should be carried out and if there is anything illegal and objectionable, appropriate legal measures should be taken and the competent authorities should assume their role. Full transparency, no dark aspects, everything in the light!
At the same time, however, this image that some people are pretentiously trying to maintain for other reasons cannot continue to saw the credibility of our country. Personally, I do not accept this image of a country that has responded to all the recommendations from the competent authorities, has shielded its legislative framework and has taken all the corrective steps that were deemed necessary. In simple words, if there are some specific cases that are objectionable, illegal, incompatible with the letter and spirit of the law, this cannot be applied evenly and universally to all cases and this is the image of our Cyprus. The financial system of Cyprus is ranked as one of the most stringent in terms of controls and this is certified by international organisations and foreign countries. The other day during a visit the Vice President of the European Central Bank in his speech referred to the economic miracle that took place in Cyprus and the obvious improvement of controls and procedures following all the recommendations of the competent authorities. Almost annihilated the deposits of Russians, closed thousands of bank accounts, closed all shell companies while in recent years the legislation was passed so that the actual beneficiaries of all registered companies in Cyprus are compulsorily disclosed to the Registrar of Companies.
To this end, by the way, didn't we, here unanimously vote for the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Authority? Have not independent foreign experts and investigators been invited to examine specific cases?
We have an obligation to get these things out in a coordinated way and not to limit ourselves only to the negative, to the specific, to nihilism and to the petty politics that is damaging our country. Let us invest in re-branding the image of our Cyprus, which really can be a country of service and let us not allow further targeting of Cyprus and its people by universalizing persons and situations.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The last thing Cyprus needs now is to be hit from within. The rallying and coordination of all political forces, the alignment of our own issue with the major international interests and the common pacing of Athens-Lekosia in relation to and with the conclusion of a positive agenda through the Greek-Turkish issue appears to be the only way out of the Cyprus quagmire.
The hourglass has long since turned back and the fact is that the situation remains dangerously trapped in the negotiating quagmire of previous years. The milestones come and go, the declarations too, with Turkey presenting itself as a cowardly mediator in critical disputes while at the same time brutally violating human rights and any sense of international law.
The occupying power's illegalities and provocations are a given with the clear aim of creating a fait accompli in the buffer zone as well. The illegal interventions in Deneia have been followed by the sectropes in Pyla and recently in Agios Dometios. The Turkish side is nibbling away at the buffer zone day by day, along with the illegal interventions in the closed area of Famagusta and in our EEZ, and our side is running behind the developments that look like a domino effect of national and political annihilation.
Unfortunately, we are moving at the pace dictated by Ankara, which with orchestrated efforts and mostly undisturbed, chooses the time and nature of each new challenge to serve its fixed and well thought-out dichotomous plans.
We need to take the initiative even now, when, by all indications, we are on the verge of a new effort on Cyprus with the appointment of an envoy by the UN Secretary General.
I will not claim that this will be the last or penultimate opportunity... But we ought to approach it only as such. We must do everything in our power to create the conditions for resuming meaningful dialogue from where it left off in Crans-Montana, on the basis of the agreed framework for an IHL solution with political equality as set out in UN resolutions.
Responsibly, away from inexpensive and unattainable approaches, with clear objectives and realistic positions. With strategy and vision, we must further intensify our efforts, in full coordination also with Athens, in order to bring Turkey back to the negotiating table, seeking to link the Euro-Turkish issues with the Cyprus solution. To use every step in every possible direction, including through parliamentary diplomacy, by strengthening bilateral, trilateral and multilateral relations, in order to put pressure on Ankara and the occupying regime to abandon their unacceptable claims for a two-state solution.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the same time as the noose of unresolved disputes is tightening menacingly around our necks, Turkey is digging another open wound against Cyprus, with the instrumentalization of the migration issue, the exploitation of human suffering and the continuous channelling of migratory flows through the Green Line, seeking to alter the demographic character of the island.
Perhaps the most important issue that concerns not only Cypriot citizens - after the national one, of course - but also every European citizen who is concerned about an irregular situation, uncontrolled by the EU, with the absence of a common European line of response with equal sharing of responsibility among Member States.
As a political area, identifying the need to modernise legislation, where and when necessary, the need to take drastic measures and required support, especially from the EU for first entry countries such as Cyprus, we have submitted publicly and have specific proposals, just as they were put forward at the level of the EPP in which we participate.
-Immediate reassessment of the Dublin Agreement
-A Single European Action Plan
-Equal sharing of responsibility and direct solidarity with first entry countries
-Agreement between the EU and Africa for the systematic readmission of migrants
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-Agreement between the EU and Africa for the systematic readmission of migrants
.Pre-departure screening centres in countries of origin-Effective border and Green Line management
-Faster application processing procedure
-Immediate reassessment of the temporary protection regime for Syrians from safe areas
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-Closed accommodation facilities for those whose application is rejected
-Direct departure of those whose application is rejected with repatriation agreements with third countries
-Special control teams to detect illegal employment
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-Safe shelter and decent living conditions for every genuine refugee
The migration issue Ladies and Gentlemen Colleagues needs to be addressed and handled yesterday, not in an authoritarian manner, fascist approaches that refer to times of chauvinism and extreme revanchism with dire consequences for humanity. At the end of the day, it is up to us to join forces by claiming a European signpost and joining forces with countries that are called upon to address the very same issue, certainly not by choosing extreme political options that foster violence, fanaticism and humiliation of human dignity, maintaining for their own political survival a wave of frenzy and insecurity that only serves them and not what is at stake, which is an effective response to the most critical issue of our times.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the explosive situation in the Middle East brings another issue urgently to the surface, the energy crisis and high energy costs.
Despite initial expectations and impressions of a new ambitious plan, the findings in practice are far from this perspective and we understand that they remain within the framework of what was previously planned. Particularly in the projects relating to our EEZ, where dilemmas and major challenges arise, calling into question even strategic agreements, there are wobbles. This is also evident from the management of the issue of the development of the Aphrodite field, which unfortunately, with the objective difficulties that exist, goes from postponement to postponement, with the new deadline expiring at the end of March 2024.
Of course, we should note here that the project for the arrival of liquefied natural gas in Vasilikos, as well as the final study for the EuroAsia Interconnector, geostrategic projects very important for our country, are progressing.
Our vision, in line with the new data as they emerge, is oriented towards the dynamic development of the perspective brought by the green transition, the full exploitation of renewable energy sources with the creation of the appropriate infrastructure for storage and transmission, as the surest way to permanently reduce energy costs and reduce dependence on imports of liquid fuels and their volatile prices.
And we finally need to collectively set an ambitious target for renewable energy sources. Targeted and measurable since, taking into account the decline in the price of photovoltaic and storage technologies and the high prices on the emissions exchange and international oil prices, there is no other advantageous option but to invest in renewable energies.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a political area, as a responsible political force, I assure you that we will proceed responsibly on all issues for the good of the country.
As a political area, as a responsible political force, we will proceed responsibly on all issues for the good of the country, I assure you. We will neither change our line nor will we be guided by easy, inexpensive approaches. As I said, above all, the good of the country, and we have repeatedly demonstrated through our consistency on principle that we will proceed in this way, as we did just the other day with our stance on the crucial issue of divestment.
In line with the well-meaning interest of the country, with the recommendations of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank that sounded the alarm about derailment of the financial system and our economy more broadly, when even, I have to say, the co-governing parties were taking an ambiguous stance.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are all judged, just as the House of Representatives is judged collectively and daily by its work and decisions.
I know that you know, dear colleagues, that we have a responsibility to keep our economy and consequently our Cyprus on a steady course, especially in these difficult times when everything is being questioned and there are neither facts nor predetermined certainties. We have a responsibility to safeguard democracy, to create strong dykes against the destruction attempted by political forces with extreme approaches in the name of national interest, using extreme populism and misinformation as a vehicle.
We have a responsibility to protect the institutions we represent, since if we allow the institutions to be destroyed we will simply fail. If we ourselves devalue by our attitude, behaviour and the way we politicise what we represent... how do we expect citizens to trust us, not to turn their backs on politics and parties but to participate in the decision-making centres? How do we stand in the way of choices that are dangerous for democracy, which are fed and sustained by phobic approaches and attempt to fragment institutions and the very democratic concept of the rule of law?
Maintaining and strengthening the credibility of institutions is vital for strengthening democratic processes and creating conditions of political stability.
It is a fundamental basis for building a just, resilient and prosperous society with transparency, fairness and integrity as its basic building blocks.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Every state budget is not a set of numbers and statistics but an expression of our values and aspirations as a society. It is a commitment to each individual citizen that we understand the challenges and attempt to build a better tomorrow.
A challenge to join and regroup in the effort for change and progress, with an eye on the opportunities we can create and the crises we are called upon to face.
I repeat that we have individual disagreements and perhaps different priorities. After all, we have made suggestions for corrections and policy proposals for 2024. We maintain, however, that we have before us a surplus budget that provides for a reduction in public debt and incorporates all the actions of the recovery and resilience fund, and we certainly choose and will support stability and not destabilisation.
With our positive vote, therefore, as a political space, we do not choose to leave the country without public finances since this would be disastrous and irresponsible, but we chart a course of responsibility and collectivity, identifying and trying to change what is wrong, acknowledging and correcting errors or omissions, presenting our opinion and position with courage and courage.
It is certainly not an option to abdicate responsibility or to abstain from this effort that concerns everyone and our Cyprus. For it is in the difficult times and uphill climbs that we must keep our compass intact and intact in order to have any hope of being guided to the blue horizon of our choice.
In closing, I would like to thank all my colleagues for their cooperation, especially the Chair and members of the Finance Committee, the House Management, Services, Officers and all staff, parliamentary partners and associates for the valuable assistance and support they have provided us especially due to the arduous process of tabling and studying the budgets but let me also say a big thank you to my own office and my personal partners and associates.
I sincerely wish everyone a Happy Holidays, health and more humanity, which we need. For our Cyprus only redemption. We owe it to her, she deserves it.
Thank you.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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