Anastasiades won’t veto foreclosures law
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has refused to veto legislation that suspends foreclosures yet again until February 2023, essentially calling on the attorney general to examine the constitutionality of the bill, as the issue on the presidential election campaign trail continues to heat up.
Last Thursday the House voted to continue the suspension of foreclosure sales for the third time in a row in the Republic of Cyprus, drawing a strong reaction from Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, who described the bill as “extremely disappointing and unacceptable.”
Petrides, who previously served as the president’s reform czar, has been arguing that ongoing suspensions failed to take into account responsible borrowers “who are marginalized and wronged to the benefit of strategic defaulters.”
“The wrong message is given to society that there is no obligation to repay the loans, or that the state will come up with flawless arrangements that negate this obligation,” Petrides said. But the minister, who said he had no choice but to ask Anastasiades to send the bill unsigned back to the House, said the government would still “do what is possible to mitigate the negative consequences,” according to the Financial Mirror newspaper.
Anastasiades said “opinions of ministers of course matter in presidential decisions but legal opinions by the attorney general take priority on whether that will be constitutional or unconstitutional.”
“If the attorney general deems it unconstitutional, it is then the president’s duty under the Constitution to send back the legislation and then refer it to the Supreme Court,” Anastasiades said, adding that leaving the bill legally untested could later be challenged in an appeals court.
The issue has also gained traction on the presidential election campaign trail, with the center’s candidate Nikos Christodoulides drawing criticism from both left and right.
Christodoulides, who served as foreign minister under Anastasiades, had gone on record as being against the suspensions. Yet recently Christodoulides’ attempt to seek compromise solutions with his supporters drew strong reactions from opposite camps, with ruling party candidate Averof Neophytou questioning his motives and leftist party AKEL backing independent Andreas Mavroyiannis accusing both his rivals of “arguing pointlessly as they both support bankers against vulnerable borrowers.”
