Demetriou's challenge for Cyprus to rise from the credibility ashes

The need for a collective and comprehensive effort to reclaim the credibility of Cyprus is more urgent than ever, pledged on Thursday President of the House of Representative Annita Demetriou.

In a statement on the recent press reports about Cyprus, after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) investigation, Demetriou called for an international enlightenment campaign to stress the strict regulation reforms.

“Today, more than ever, there is an urgent need to conduct a collective effort, a comprehensive and thorough effort, beyond petty politics, to regain the credibility of our country”, she remarked, commenting on the "Cyprus Confidential" investigation.

She said she is referring to a pan-European and international enlightenment plan, through which all institutional reforms to tighten the framework for the provision of services, to fight financial crime and to implement sanctions will be promoted.

This action plan, she added, “must be undertaken by the competent authorities of the state, such as the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, and Invest Cyprus”.

At the same time, she added, “we must fully utilise the opportunity provided by parliamentary diplomacy to showcase all legislative and other changes that have occurred in our country in recent years”.

Demetriou said the matter has already been raised in the meeting of leaders and representatives of parliamentary parties “so that together we can contribute in a coordinated manner to this goal”.

Concluding, she underlined that “it is evident, of course, that everything brought to light should be thoroughly investigated, and where criminal liabilities arise, those specific cases should be brought before justice”.