Final positions on Qatar deal next week

POLITICAL parties are next week expected to offer their final positions on a bill regarding the release of state-owned land, as a means of cementing Cyprus’ investment deal with Qatar.
The bill aims to prepare the legal framework for future investments as well, a propsoal which has caused great unease among deputies worried about state land falling in to private hands, and the repercussions in the event of a dispute with private investors.
During the bill’s closed discussion at the House Interior Committee yesterday, the Attorney-general committed to exploring ways of implementing a law just for the Qatari deal.
However, any proposals in this direction made to date – such as giving the law a “sell-by date” so it stops applying after the deal is ratified – have been deemed unconstitutional by the AG.
“Generally, I feel the majority of us are adopting the reasons behind the government’s deal with Qatar,” said Committee Chairman Yiannos Lamaris of AKEL. “There are some scenarios that we haven’t concluded on yet and it is no secret that there aren’t many ways out of this,” he added.
“We either approve the bill as it is, pass the law just for the specific case or request Parliament’s active say in future investments.”
Either way, Lamaris said passing the law was a matter of urgency so the deal wasn’t scrapped altogether.
Asked what would happen if the law isn’t passed, Lamaris said the majority of parties agreed they didn’t want to blight the government’s efforts to attract foreign investments; especially in a time of financial crisis.
However, the Green Party’s George Perdikis expressed great concern over the law parliament “is being forced to pass”.
“If this law is passed, we are talking of a clear sell-out of state land for a development of doubtful outcome,” he said. “We are giving away this land with a law we are being forced to pass and the Attorney-general was clear that Parliament is directly implicated in this.”
He added: “It is a package agreement that we either accept or not. Even though the Finance Minister and Attorney-general have given the opposite impression, I feel a rejection of this law won’t result in an end to the deal”.
The remaining parties reserved from offering their positions until next week’s discussion.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.