Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, expressed on Thursday his deep regret and disappointment over the rejection of the state budget 2021 by the House of Representatives. 

In a written statement, the President assures that the government will continue in the coming days the creative dialogue with the rest of the political forces in order to achieve the approval of the state budget as soon as possible.

The rejection of the budget, he says, is not a vote to punish the government, it rather punishes the companies that today are in danger of going bankrupt, those who are in danger of losing their jobs due to the painful measures of the pandemic, the vulnerable groups in need of the Minimum Guaranteed Income, the persons with low pensions, those  who need an effective health system, and those who anxiously await vaccination and the effective dealing of the pandemic.

He notes that the budget was rejected for the first time in the history of the Republic and for reasons foreign to the philosophy of the budget.

The President also says that he fully understands and respects the positions of the political parties, which, either as a result of different economic  or individual views on policy areas, have taken a negative stance, but adds that what he does not understand is the negative vote of the Democratic Party, "which is trying in a coercive manner, to replace the legally elected government and neutralize other independent institutions."

(CNA)