Europe

Europe

Cypriot opposition parties try to force resignation of President

04 October 2011 23:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Cypriot opposition parties said on Tuesday they are considering parliamentary action to force the resignation of President Demetris Christofias following an inquiry report blaming him personally for a deadly blast at a naval base last July, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Christofias rejected the resignation demands citing pressing problems that require his staying in power.

However, all opposition parties that muster a significant majority in Parliament, said they are considering joint action to force Christofias to face the consequences of the report.

"If he dogmatically insists on staying in power my party will initiate cooperation with other opposition parties to jointly find political and parliamentary means of safeguarding the rights of the people," said main opposition DISY party leader Nicos Anastasiades.

The report by a government-appointed inquiry commission said that Christofias bears "grave personal and institutional responsibilities" for a massive explosion of 98 containers of munitions in the naval base in southern Limassol.

The blast killed 13 people and wrecked a nearby power station, cutting the islands electricity generating capacity by one half.

Under the presidential system of Cyprus, Parliament has no power to remove the president, though he has the support of only his left wing AKEL party, now in the minority after two former centre-left parties quit the government coalition, partly as a result of the July explosion.

However, opposition parties may make it difficult for Christofias to govern by refusing to enact vital legislations.

The next important legislation bound to come up for debate is the 2012 state budget, which provides for crucial austerity measures made necessary by repeated downgrading of Cyprus’s economy by international rating agencies.

President Christofias on Tuesday stuck to his rejection of the Inquiry Commission findings of personal responsibility for the blast and strongly rejected demands for his resignation.

He and his AKEL party insisted on their original position that the commission of inquiry drew unsubstantiated conclusion and had overstepped its mandate by dealing with issues of foreign and government policy which they considered to be outside its jurisdiction.

However, Christofias said he will also wait for action by the Attorney General on a police report following a criminal investigation into the blast. He did not say whether and how the Attorney Generals action will influence his decision.

No details of the report handed on Tuesday to the Attorney General were revealed, but local media reported that over 10 officials are expected to be prosecuted on charges that include causing death by negligence, negligence in the line of duty and abuse of power.