Clerides appeals for consensus on policy

By Charlie Charalambous

PRESIDENT Clerides yesterday called on party leaders to support the government’s agenda of privatisation, EU harmonisation and tax hikes.

Clerides has drawn up an agenda of priority policy issues which he believes needs political consensus to get the relevant legislation pushed through the House without delay.

In an effort to secure across-the-board consensus for some of the government’s unpopular proposals, Clerides has urged the party leaders to enter a process of discussion with an open mind.

Clerides sent letters yesterday to each party leader outlining the main issues to be tackled and a framework of dialogue to be followed.

“The letters have been sent and now we will wait for a response,” government spokesman Christos Stylianides said yesterday.

Stylianides said the issues up for discussion concerned EU harmonisation, the economy and institutional changes.

But informed sources say the crucial decisions concern the need to raise VAT from eight per cent to 15 per cent over the next three years, cutting public expenditure, selling off state shares in Cyta, the Hilton and Cyprus Airways plus the creation of deputy ministers and the National Health Scheme.

There is also the question of raising extra revenue through introducing further indirect taxes on consumption, which could for example affect the price of petrol or cigarettes.

Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou has hinted on several occasions that not only VAT, but other forms of taxation must go up to try and close the rising public deficit.

The minister last year tried to push through a biting tax package, but it was voted out by the House, angry that he had tried to raise taxes without adequate consultation – even with his own coalition partners.

After that fiasco, the government is aware it needs to get the opposition on side to pass through unpopular tax hikes.

It is also aware that there is a groundswell of protest against its plans to sell off state shares in the move towards full liberalisation.

And with main opposition party Akel opposed to tax increases and any plans that smack of privatisation, most political observers believe Clerides search for consensus will not bear any fruit.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.