OPPOSITION DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday accused the government of trying to create “an illusion of prosperity” instead of making life better for the consumer,
Speaking at a pre-election news conference on how DISY would do things better, Anastassaides said Cyprus was still top of the list in Europe with the most expensive electricity, the most expensive milk, coffee, bread and many other items and essentials that “irreversibly affect every Cypriot household”.
The DIS leader said the easiest way to apportion blame for this – and the one that the government parroted incessantly – was to cite increases in fuel and to “blame the developments in the Middle East”.
“And what is the government doing? Instead of protecting consumers, and fair competition, it is fuelling the increases by imposing indirect taxes on fuel and cigarettes, while imposing a 5 per cent tax on food and medicines, creating a domino effect and boosting inflation,” said Anastassiades.
He added that in the first half of 2010, Cyprus was the most expensive country for industrial electricity and the 7th most expensive for household electricity in the EU long before the recent unrest in the Middle East.
“How were there increases in electricity prices over the first half of 2009 of around 19.3 per cent for households and 26.9 per cent for industry,” Anastassiades said.
And, instead of taking immediate measures, as other EU countries had, the Cyprus government was “holding meetings and spouting theories” while the leaders tried to create the illusion of prosperity.
“At the very least it’s provocative to celebrate it how the prices of some products fell marginally, when they know well – bases on official data – that on the whole there is an upward trend in prices.”
By contrast DISY’s strategy would include several objectives built around boosting fair competition, the opposition leader said.
He said there must be a comprehensive strategy aimed at first strengthening the consumer movement and consumer awareness as a prerequisite for the proper functioning of the market.
Also, consumer rights should be non-negotiable, he said, and competition should be increased in order to contain and reduce prices.
The Consumer Association should be institutionalised and the legislative framework strengthened, and this should be followed by strict enforcement.
“Unfortunately the competent departments of the state are failing to supervise the market and implement the laws,” he said.
Asked his opinion on price caps, the DISY leader said if competition was working properly, there would be no need for state intervention.
