Plenum kicks off three-day budget debate

THE PLENUM yesterday began a three-day debate on the 2009 state budget.

The debate started by observing a minute’s silence in memory of former President Tassos Papadopoulos, who died last Friday of lung cancer.

Speaking before the opening of the session, House President Marios Garoyian said the people of Cyprus were still mourning Papadopoulos’ loss, whose name he associated with Cyprus’ recent history.

“Tassos Papadopoulos had fully accomplished his duty towards his homeland, and he had been an incompatible guardian of the national and public interest,” he said.

The 2009 state budget, as it had been presented at the House plenary on December 4, provides for €7.37 billion in expenditure, increased by 11 per cent compared to 2008 with revenues worth of €6.3 billion, increased only by 1.6 per cent.

The debate is expected to continue today at 9am and again tomorrow. It will be voted on tomorrow night. It is expected that AKEL, DIKO, EDEK and the Green Party will vote in favour and DISY and EVROKO against.

Party leaders’ opening speeches yesterday focused on the Cyprus problem as is customary, with each one outlining what steps they felt had to be taken so it could be resolved. All parties also called for unity on a domestic front.

Regarding the economy, all parties were against further exploration of public debt, none wanted more taxes and all wanted to boost the social state.

Addressing the plenum, AKEL’s Nicos Katsourides referred to the island’s “strong economy” with its “strong foundations” and “enviable employment rate”.

DISY’s Nicos Anastassiades was less optimistic and said Cypriot pensioners were virtually living on the poverty line compared to their EU counterparts and that more had to be done to boost the island’s pension fund.

EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou also warned that steps had to be taken to support the construction industry with hundreds, possibly thousands, of layoffs imminent in 2009.

“It’s a signal of danger and we must take significant measures to support the industry,” he said.

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.