Pensioners threaten mass protest if issues remain unresolved

Pensioners said on Friday they would organise a huge protest against the government if their issues were not resolved by the autumn.

In a statement, the pensioners’ union Ekysy said it would give the government “one last chance” and expects to have a meeting set in response to a memo they sent last year to the four competent ministers dealing with the elderly.

Ekysy plans to hold a Pancyprian conference on October 3. “If until then the problems continue to remain unresolved, then a demonstration by pensioners’ against the government will take place,” the union said.

Top of their list is measures to help the elderly cope with inflation “bearing in mind that the government’s measures to date are temporary and without substantial benefit”.

“Some of them expire at the end of June, while those that have been renewed, such as the continuation of the electricity subsidy, do not solve the serious problem of the tragically high EAC bills that consumers are asked to pay due to the heat.”

The union said “significant compensatory benefits”, pensions, guaranteed minimum income and the poverty threshold must be increased, it added.

Also the “serious problem” arising from the purchase of medicines not covered by the health system Gesy, must be resolved.

Another demand is that the 12 per cent financial penalty imposed on people who retire at 63 rather than 65 be abolished. Ekysy is also demanding that the widower’s pension apply to all men and not just those who benefit under certain circumstances.