Nicosia, Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot trade unions and the opposition political party the CTP on Thursday filed a case seeking to annul a decree halting cost-of-living allowance payments to public sector workers until next year. The request was submitted to the ‘TRNC’s’ constitutional court.
Court filing targets decree issued after bill failed
The unions and the CTP asked the court to annul the decree, which was issued hours after the ruling coalition failed to pass a bill to the same effect through the Turkish Cypriot legislature.
Union leader criticises government decision
After filing the case, representatives appeared outside northern Nicosia’s courthouse, where public sector workers’ trade union Kamu-Sen leader Metin Altan criticised the coalition’s decision to issue the decree.
“We are faced with a government which is selling this country out, giving it away, and betraying its people. They issued decrees with the force of law through deceptive tactics. This is a hammer blow to those on fixed incomes,” Altan said.
Comments on protest policing and calls for resignation
Altan also criticised the use of tear gas and a fire engine hose to disperse demonstrators who protested the plans at the Turkish Cypriot legislature on Monday, saying the coalition’s actions had “pitted us against the police”.
“There is no point in prime minister Ustel remaining in his job. The country is being given away. Our lands and all our institutions are being sold off,” he said.
Coalition says timing required action before end of March
The decree was issued on Tuesday morning, hours after the coalition failed to pass a bill through the legislature. ‘Labour minister’ Oguzhan Hasipoglu said the move was necessary to ensure the new rules would be in force before the end of March.
Public dispute between Ustel and Erhurman
In the days that followed, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman argued publicly over the issue, with Erhurman expressing opposition to the decree.
Erhurman said the coalition had gone “behind the backs” of the Turkish Cypriot people by issuing the decree after initially appearing open to talks with trade unions following the bill’s failure in the legislature.
In the latest exchange, Ustel described Erhurman as “detached from the realities of the country and the world”, after Erhurman compared Ustel to a “bad April fool’s joke”.
What impact will the court challenge have on the decree halting cost-of-living allowance payments?