Political parties, other than Elam, say closing crossings is a mistake

Political parties criticised the government for the week-long closure of four checkpoints on Saturday as the president refused to budge saying there was ‘no other choice’.

Firing back, main opposition Akel called for an end to the ‘unilateral decision’ to suspend crossing at the four checkpoints, spokesman Giorgos Loukaides said.

“Akel calls on the government to explain with scientific evidence its decision to temporarily suspend crossing from certain checkpoints,” he said.

They called on the government to instead make sure all the proper medical checks were conducted at all the checkpoints.

Meanwhile the Green Party said they did not have enough scientific evidence to comment on the government’s decision, but that at a first glance it seemed to be an ‘overreaction’.

The Citizen’s Alliance said the closing of the checkpoints was not an effective measure in dealing with Covid-19.

“We believe what is needed is the application of a strict protocol at the checkpoints,” the party said.

Far-right party Elam said they want all the checkpoints to be closed, and the step of closing the four crossings was due to the pressure by the leader of their party on the president.

Ruling Disy opted out of giving an opinion, saying they were not informed, and were not in a position to comment on the temporary closure.

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