Cypriot political leaders relieved to avoid ‘worst scenario’
Cypriot political leaders, who spent Sunday evening and early Monday morning at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia as government officials negotiated a bailout deal in Brussels, accepted the agreement without argument, according to the deputy leader of President Nicos Anastasiades’s DISY party Lefteris Christoforou.
The conservative politicians said Cyprus faced a choice between a “bad scenario and a much worse one”.
“There was a tough battle but we managed to avoid the worst scenario, which would have been a disorderly default,” said Christofourou, adding that it was significant that no extra funds would be needed for the island’s two main banks, Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) and Bank of Cyprus.
Christoforou said that political leaders who had been at the Presidential Palace, where Anastasiades briefed them about how talks in Brussels were progressing, had shown “responsibility” and avoided clashing despite the “tragic nature” of the circumstances.
The terms of the bailout agreed at the Eurogroup in Brussels, which includes the resolution of Laiki and restructuring of Bank of Cyprus, will not have to be approved by Cypriot Parliament as the relevant legislation was passed last week.
