Despite the foreclosures bill having acquired ‘prior action’ status, meaning the next tranche of international aid to Cyprus will not be approved until the bill is voted, on Tuesday political parties rushed to distance themselves from it, some even stating their explicit intent to vote against it.
Following a meeting with DIKO leader Nikolas Papadopoulos, AKEL’s secretary-general Andros Kyprianou said that the government and the Troika must take their views into consideration.
“We feel there is substantial ground for convergences between us, so that we can send a strong message to the government and the Troika that, at last, they must seriously consider the views of political parties,” he said.
Speaking about his efforts to convince opposition parties to form a united front in requesting the government to seek amendments to the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Troika, Papadopoulos was equally suggestive.
“If the government does not wish to renegotiate the MoU, then our discussions will obviously bear no fruits,” he said. “Since we are opposition parties, the only way we can shape the debate is parliamentary cooperation.”
EDEK’s Kostis Efstathiou left no room for doubt with regard to the socialist party’s stance.
“We want to make it absolutely clear that EDEK will not support a bill that will facilitate mass property foreclosures and hurt vulnerable borrowers indiscriminately, when they have already paid dearly and disproportionately for the financial crisis through no fault of their own,” he stated.
The hardest line was taken by Citizens’ Alliance leader Yiorgos Lillikas. He argued that the right of borrowers to resort to the courts against banks is constitutionally protected.
“Under no circumstances must the House consent to a bill that leaves property owners exposed, especially families and small-to-medium sized businessmen,” he said. “At the same time, under no circumstances should it accept to nullify citizens’ right to resort to justice against banks, which is constitutionally guaranteed. The government and the House must realise that the MoU does not trump the constitution, otherwise we would be no different to mid-20th century colonies.”
