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MUSTAFA Akinci’s Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) has called on the Turkish Cypriot ‘government’ to consider sending two deputies to the European Parliament in Brussels to take up two of the six seats allocated to Cyprus by the EU.

FOUR Turkish Cypriot members of ‘parliament’ have established an alliance that they believe could lead to the formation of a ‘government’ that does not include either of the two parties that opposed the implementation of the Annan plan in last month’s referendum.

THE government yesterday rejected allegations that it was changing the criteria for golf courses to serve private financial interests.

Speaking before the House Commerce Committee, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister George Lillikas rubbished allegations that the government had changed the incentives for the development of golf courses to serve specific interests.

CYPRIOT citizens paid over £1 billion for harmonisation, without any help from the European Union, the House Commerce Committee heard yesterday.

Committee chairman Lefteris Christoforou noted that professional groups were paying the cost of harmonisation without help from the government while a request to set up a special harmonisation fund had been shelved.

RALLY for Europe deputies Prodromos Prodromou and Christodoulos Taramountas yesterday warned that the current electoral law could lead the island’s first Euro elections to a fiasco if it was not amended.

The two former DISY deputies suggested the current legislation would leave out from the second count all parties and groups apart from AKEL and DISY.

THE future of the Limassol zoo is hanging in the balance, as it has been operating without a licence since February 2003 and is in breach of the EU zoo directive, according to Patricia Kyriacou from Animal Responsibility Cyprus (ARC).

FINANCE Minister Makis Keravnos said yesterday that the government would stop the hiring and salary increases of public servants as part of an effort to lower the public deficit to below six per cent by 2005.

The move is part of a series of measures announced yesterday to better the economy.

WHAT are we to believe? “No taxes will be imposed,” says the Commerce Minister, putting claims to the contrary down to “irresponsible partisan politics”. His comments seemed to echo the “exasperation” of the President, who last week blasted the leak of a Finance Ministry report on proposals to raise taxes, saying it was nothing more than a preliminary study.