MAIN opposition party DISY yesterday reiterated it no longer trusted the administration to smoothly lead the country into the eurozone.
The comments came one week before the plenum is to vote on four bills relating to the adoption of the euro.
Cyprus is scheduled to adopt the single currency on January 1, 2008, but DISY, which up until now had been in favour, this week said it was having second thoughts because of mixed signals being given out by the government.
A “nay” from both AKEL and DISY in parliament would defeat the bills, with unforeseen consequences for the course towards the euro.
“We are not euro-skeptics,” asserted DISY’s number two, Averoff Neofytou. “But our confidence in this government has been shattered. On the one hand, the Finance Minister and the President insist that we are on track, that there is no problem. On the other, [senior coalition partners] AKEL claim that the people shall pay a heavy price from adoption of the euro. So which is it?”
Averoff said that DISY were “stunned” when communist leader Demetris Christofias recently came out of a meeting with President Papadopoulos saying his party was sure that their concerns were justified.
The main opposition party has requested a meeting with President Papadopoulos as soon as possible to discuss the matter.
“Does that mean AKEL has access to some inside information? Is there something the rest of us should know?” he mused.
In response, AKEL parliamentary spokesman Nicos Katsourides charged DISY of manipulating the communist party’s misgivings for political gain.
“These people [DISY] are confused. Frankly, they are trying to create impressions.”
Socialists EDEK also stepped in the fray, with party boss Yiannakis Omirou calling for the adoption of the euro as planned.
According to Omirou, joining the eurozone sooner rather than later would actually allow the government to loosen austerity policies and increase welfare payouts.
“If we delay, then we might squander all the sacrifices made by our people in recent years,” said Omirou.
And he added that the political benefits of entry into the eurozone would be “immense.”
DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides explained to the Cyprus Mail his party’s stance, which has had some observers confounded. “If the government has fresh information that perhaps we would be better off pushing back the date, then we would obviously take these concerns into consideration. But the government needs to come clean on this.
“After all, AKEL is a responsible party. If they say something is amiss, why doubt them?
“If the Finance Minister does not agree with AKEL’s calls for a postponement, he should come out and say so. Otherwise, either we conclude that the administration espouses AKEL’s position, or that they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Asked whether DISY might change its views assuming they were convinced that postponement was the better option, Pourgourides said “we are keeping an open mind.”
“Certainly we don’t want our country to enter the eurozone unprepared. It would be like jumping off a skyscraper without a parachute. You’re bound to crash, right?”
