Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades said on Sunday that he will hold talks with European leaders and officials over the content of legislative documents on foreclosures adopted on Saturday by the majority of the House of Representatives.
He also promised to review the amendments adopted by MPs “very seriously”.
He was replying to questions on the sidelines of the inauguration of a park in Germasogia, at the coastal city of Limassol, in honour of the 13 people who perished as a result of a deadly blast at “Evaggelos Florakis” naval base, near Mari village, on July 11, 2011.
The House of Representatives approved during an extraordinary plenary on Saturday a bill on foreclosures together with a series of other bills, amendments and other legislative proposals tabled by the political parties.
Adoption of the bill constituted a precondition for the disbursement of the next tranche of the island`s €10 billion financial assistance programme. The approval or not of the disbursement of the next tranche of the Cypriot programme, is expected to be decided by a Eurogroup meeting next Friday.
Invited to comment on the fact that parliamentary parties have called on him not to refer any of the adopted documents back to parliament, he said that apart from thanking political parties for their responsible attitude, he wishes to assure that he will “review very seriously the amendments achieved in the separate bills and will fully respect everyone`s wish to protect vulnerable groups”.
At the same time, he announced that he is launching as of Monday “a round of intensive negotiations on a political level, so that before I decide, I will have the reaction or I can take into consideration the risks involved", adding that through the way they handled things political parties have also tried to avoid such risks.
Asked with whom he will be holding the talks, President Anastasiades said that negotiations will take place with various leaders, whether they are called Barroso, Juncker, or Merkel or with any other leaders in order to achieve the approval of provisions which in essence do not alter the philosophy of the bill adopted.
That is to say, he explained, the fact that an anachronistic system which has been in place until today, has now been modernised and that at the same time vulnerable groups of citizens will be protected in view of the crisis and the austere measures adopted by the Troika.
Inaugurating the park the President thanked parties for their “responsible stance” in voting the bill on foreclosures and pledged that the government will do its utmost so that conditions which fully safeguard vulnerable groups of the population will be created.
In these difficult times for our country due to serious economic and political challenges we are faced with, we will have to find, as a people, the important elements uniting us, he pointed out.
“Unity and cooperation should be our beacon forward in order to deal with the diverse difficulties ahead”, President Anastasiades stressed, adding that this was also evident from the decisions parliament took yesterday.
Referring to the tragic blast of July 2011, he said that the “Park of Immortals” will remind everyone including the future generations, not only of the heroic sacrifice of the 13 people who lost their lives that fateful day but also of the accountability and the responsibility the state has vis-à-vis its citizens, for the benefit of who it has a responsibility to ensure conditions of prosperity, security and dignity and of preventing such tragedies from taking place.
