Budget passes with comfortable majority

THE 2010 government budget was approved yesterday by a comfortable majority in the House after a session that lasted well into the night.

The government’s financial statement was approved by 33 votes to 19 against. The ‘ayes’ came from ruling AKEL, DIKO, EDEK and the Greens, and the ‘nays’ from DISY and the European Party.

Parliament was able to overcome the toughest snag to passage, which was opposition to the supplementary budget for 2009 for state broadcaster CyBC that the government tagged onto 2010.

Despite the €8.8 million item having been pre-approved in February, objections to it were raised last week by 21 deputies from DISY, DIKO and the European Party.

Opposition to the item was based on the argument that the CyBC was not impartial, had failed to provide equal air time to all political parties and had failed to address mismanagement issues.

Through a compromise formula yesterday, it was agreed the CyBC would receive €3.7 million in order to pay its staff their December wages and 13th salaries. Approval of any further cash in the New Year will bear close parliamentary scrutiny.

Following passage of the budget, the House stands in recess for the holidays and will reconvene on January 14.

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.