Parliament in heated debate over measures
HEATED debate ensued in parliament after ministers unveiled a 23-point package of measures on Monday, amid fears of an economic collapse following last week’s dramatic fall in the value of the Turkish lira.
Members of the government presented their plan to Parliament, which was recalled from its summer recess for an emergency debate.
Taking to the stand first, Prime Minister Tufan Erhürman drew attention to the fact that there was an “ongoing economic downturn” in the TRNC owing to the loss of the value of the lira.
He said the government had been conducting “various works” for two weeks and that they were now in a position to share with MPs the proposed economic measures.
The Premier said state revenues had taken a hit because of the economic woes and that the public were going through “hard times” due to hikes in prices for goods and services.
Finance Minister Serdar Denktaş said the four-party coalition government would seek to bolster state revenues by increasing the amount of tax collected from casinos and property purchases by foreigners.
He said public offices had been told to cut down on waste by “switching off one of two air-conditioning units in a room” and by reducing hospitality expenditure.
However, Mr Denktaş stressed that the government could not solve the economic problems on its own.
“Actually every individual in every household should start making savings,” he emphasised.
Mr Denktaş added that there would be “no problem” meeting public sector workers’ 13th salary payments at the end of the year and said switching from the TL to the euro was “out of the question”.
Main opposition National Unity Party (UBP) leader Hüseyin Özgürgün questioned why MPs had been recalled, saying it was for the government to address the issues, not Parliament.
He said the TRNC had encountered “much worse crises before” including “months of power cuts”.
The former PM criticised the list of measures presented by the government and asserted that the “point reached in the country’s economy” could not be ascribed to the foreign currency issue alone.
“We had many problems before the crisis,” he said. “The hike in foreign currency rates began only a fortnight ago.”
Mr Özgürgün added that the state had not made payments on time to farmers, bus drivers and workers in other sectors.
“Had they been paid on time, these sectors would have been relieved much earlier,” he stressed.
Rebirth Party leader Erhan Arıklı described the 23 measures as “palliative”.
Amid fraying tempers, UBP MP Hasan Taçoy said only six of the measures were “financial ones” and the government had only introduced a package to raise state income.
“It has not addressed the issue of guaranteeing public purhasing power or helping to stop excessive inflation. It does not adjust people’s incomes in the face of the crisis.”
Other UBP deputies criticised the government for failing to address soaring prices and the fact that, as Önder Sennaroğlu put it, “the entire market is based on foreign currency, whilst people’s salaries are based on the TL”.
The attacks brought angry retorts from government MPs who said opposition members should “drop the ‘you and us’ jargon” and demanded: “Why don’t you put forward your list of measures so we can talk.”
A bad-tempered exchange accusing UBP of “knowing about looting” provoked party leader Mr Özgürgun into storming out of the Assembly chamber.
Meanwhile Communal Liberation Party (TKP) leader Mehmet Çakıcı warned in a statement that the country was on the threshold of a “social explosion”.