House Speaker says Parliament must 'raise its standards'

House Speaker Adamos Adamou said that Parliament has an obligation to raise its standards and improve its image to the public, who are turning away from politics and politicians and especially Parliament.
 
In an interview with Cyprus News Agency, Adamou, who took over Parliament’s reins last October after the resignation of its former President over the passports scandal, said he accepted the post with a view to accomplish specific goals before the Parliamentary elections set to take place in May.

In the context of the effort to tackle corruption, Adamou said his goals mainly included the publication of a list detailing the loans of politically exposed persons (known as the Yiorkadji list), the approval of a Code of Conduct for MPs, and other bills, such as the establishment of the Independent Anti-Corruption Authority and legislation governing whistleblowing.

The first two of the goals have already been completed, while the other two are expected to be completed by the end of the term of the current Parliament, he said.
 
Adamou said Parliament has an obligation to raise its standards. He said recent polls show that people distrust politics and politicians, while Parliament is held in the lowest regard.

"Of course, we are responsible for increasing the degree of our acceptance by the people, with our actions as a House of Representatives, in order to be able to raise even a little the parliamentary bar in our country", he said.
 
Commenting on uphill battle faced by government to get its state budget for this year through Parliament, Adamou said it remains unclear what would have followed a second rejection of the budget by MPs, and whether the state would have been able to continue to function.

Adamou said that every government in power should come to an agreement beforehand with the parliamentary parties that will vote on the budget in order to avoid dilemmas.
 
Regarding government decrees in place to curb the spread of coronavirus and the view expressed that Parliament’s approval should have been required, Adamou said that although this may be legally justified, we are dealing with a pandemic that costs human lives. He added that if the government didn’t take measures on time, Cyprus would not have been in such a good position today, as backed up by epidemiological data and the rate of vaccinations.

Adamou, a doctor by profession, said he will not be running again in the next parliamentary elections. Adamou has been both a member of the Cyprus Parliament and the European Parliament.  
 
"My entire career in politics had the same focus as my scientific and medical career, humans. I tried to serve the people," he said.
 
As a doctor, he added, he believes that he has served the people well and conscientiously, while in the field of politics he said, "I did what I could do". Finally, Adamou said that he is leaving politics “standing tall”.