AN ONLINE petition calling for a long-overdue tidying up of state finances has surpassed its target of 4,000 signatures, and its originators now plan to sound out political parties for support.
Launched two weeks ago, the petition (http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40684.html) wants an end to the two-tier system of contributions to the Social Security Fund and to bring the civil service in line with the rest of society.
Workers in the broader civil sector contribute three per cent to the SSF while people in the private sector contribute 16 per cent of their earnings.
The petition’s demands include a temporary freeze on civil servants’ wages, abolition of multiple pensions, stop including allowances in the calculation of pensions, and abolition of the age pension for civil servants which is taken from the SSF.
A cursory look at the petition reveals that, in some cases, whole families have signed up.
“It’s looking good. We’ll now try to fix meetings with the heads of parties, and take it from there,” said the petition’s author, Stelios Nicholson.
They will first approach the biggest parties, AKEL and DISY. “We shall ask them to sign it and if they do, our next step will be to present the petition to the government in the hope they will act upon it.”
The petition’s initiators also promise to inform all signatories that such-and-such party supports (or not) their initiative.
Nicholson explained the petition’s 4,000 mark was inspired by the European Citizens’ Initiative introduced by the Lisbon Treaty that states that one million citizens from a number of Member States have the possibility to call on the Commission to bring forward new policy proposals.
“We figured that one million people corresponds to 0.2 per cent of the EU’s population. We wanted to exceed that in domestic terms, reaching 4,000 signatures, which represents around 0.5 per cent of the Cypriot population.”
The online action has coincided with an ongoing debate over the cost of the civil service to the economy as the government is mulling the idea of cutting wages as one way of reining in the budget deficit.
The Initiative Team behind the petition comprises six members: Nicholson, businessman; Michalakis Hadjikyriakos, industrialist; Stavros Agrotis, stockbroker; Yiannos Kannas, importer; Andreas Koullinos, manager at an IT company; and Christos Lanitis, sculptor.
“As citizens you have to speak out and take action, no matter what the outcome. There’s nothing worse than apathy,” said team member Michalakis Hadjikyriakos.
He said the team are pleased with the reaction to the petition which exceeded even their own expectations.
“Admittedly it’s always hard to change the status quo but now, with the economy in crisis, maybe it’s time for a fresh start.”
Hadjikyriakos said many entrepreneurs were worried about government thoughts to raise state revenue through tax hikes affecting medium-sized businesses.
Any government measures should be balanced so as not to harm productivity in the private sector, because that would be the final nail in the coffin for the economy.
