The government camp on Tuesday began a round of consultations with political parties in a bid to shore up and hopefully expand support for a new state budget bill after it was rejected by parliament.
Ruling Disy leader Averof Neophytou met with Giorgos Lillikas of the Citizens Alliance, among the parties that vetoed the 2021 budget bill last week.
The bill was defeated by 29 votes against to 24 in favour. The Citizens Alliance hold a single seat in the 55-seat parliament.
Speaking to the media after meeting Lillikas, Neophytou struck a note of optimism that common ground can be found.
Lillikas then headed out to the presidential palace to discuss the matter with President Nicos Anastasiades.
He later told reporters that the president appeared positively disposed to his party’s proposals.
Lillikas said he was satisfied with the labour minister’s decision this week to raise the pension for low-income earners to above the poverty line.
But his party would like to see this policy incorporated into legislation, rather than be dependent on the minister’s good will at any given time.
And he reiterated that these deliberations should not be construed as horse trading, but rather as consensus-building.
Later in the day, Disy’s Neophytou met with Eleni Theocharous, head of the Solidarity party with two MPs in parliament.
Although Solidarity voted for the budget on December 17, Theocharous said their support for a new budget bill should not be taken for granted.
During her conversation with Neophytou, Theocharous said, she explained to him that “the odometer has been reset and therefore Solidarity’s stance will depend on the quality and attributes of the new budget.”
Neophytou’s last stop on the day was at the offices of the Democratic Cooperation, which hold three seats in the House.
The Democratic Cooperation had likewise backed the budget last week.
After seeing Neophytou, the Democratic Cooperation out a statement with their ‘wish list’ for the new budget bill.
Among others, they would like to see the minimum wage be regulated by law, and compensation given to provident funds that suffered a ‘haircut’ in 2013.
The 2021 budget failed to pass muster in parliament primarily because junior opposition Diko – who in previous years had consistently voted in favour – broke ranks and vetoed.
Diko said their action was due to the fact the government refuses to hand over to the auditor-general files concerning the now-defunct citizenship by investment scheme.
Where the budget bill does not pass, the government has 45 days from the day of the vote in parliament to submit an amended bill. During this time the administration as well as the ruling party will try and woo dissenters into backing the new bill.
