The revised Budget of 2021 was voted by law by the Plenary Session of the Parliament, with 29 votes in favor and 26 against, after previously approving amendments concerning commitments and cuts of funds.
The 18 deputies of DISY, the 3 deputies of EDEK, the deputy of the Citizens' Alliance, the 2 deputies of Solidarity, the 2 deputies of ELAM and the 3 deputies of the Cooperation of Democratic Forces voted in favor.
The 16 deputies of AKEL, the 7 deputies of DIKO, the 2 deputies of the Movement of Ecologists – Citizens' Cooperation and the deputy of the “Independents” Anna Theologos voted against.
According to the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, the Budget forecasts expenditure (regular and development), amounting to € 7,158,245,905 and shows an increase of expenditure by 2.5% compared to the originally budgeted and approved expenditure of the 2020 budget (excluding supplementary budgets for 2020).
The new Budget is presented increased by € 339,912,290 compared to the Budget voted against in December. Revenues projected in the said budget (excluding financial flows) amount to € 6,480 million, compared to revised revenues of € 5,917 million in 2020, showing an increase of 9.5%.
The positions of the Leaders or Representatives of the parties that preceded the vote, in addition to the provisions of the budget and the effects of the economic and health crisis on the citizens and the economy, also contained counterclaims between the parties that voted or voted in favor of the budgets and petitions. who decided to vote or vote against.
Following the statements of the Leaders or Representatives of the parties, the session was interrupted for a 5-minute break requested by AKEL.
The Minister of Finance Konstantinos Petridis and other members of the Council of Ministers were present in the room where the Plenary Session was discussed during the Budget.
The discussion of the State Budget was interrupted for a few minutes after the earthquake until the members of the parliament and the staff of the Parliament recovered from the suddenness of the earthquake.
DIKO President Nikolas Papadopoulos, speaking from the podium of the Parliament during the discussion of the revised Budget of 2021, expressing the position that the primary and highest duty of the Parliament is to control the executive power, said that a vote in favor of the budget, “Rewards entanglement and corruption, complicity in cover-up and sends the message to the Government of Entanglement: Keep up the good work, undisturbed, restless and carefree.” The President of DIKO noted that despite the initial rejection, the Budget presented today is essentially the same as the one voted against a month ago and has a major problem with the previous budget that was rejected, the fact that the Government did not calculate 2nd wave of the pandemic will come.
Stefanos Stefanou: Consistent in its positions, AKEL will vote against the budget, said AKEL Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou in his speech to Parliament on the revised 2021 budget, adding that the Government has brought a revised budget to the revised budget. the one who voted against and while she should have thought about how to create the conditions to achieve the greatest possible consensus, she simply dogmatically insisted on her policies.
The President of EDEK Marinos Sizopoulos, speaking from the podium of the Parliament during the discussion of the revised Budget of 2021, after emphasizing that it is not an ordinary budget, but an emergency budget, said that EDEK is constructively moving forward next to the citizen, citizen and the place regardless of the costs they may be required to pay. EDEK's past marks our present and our future, he added.
The Solidarity movement's political committee unanimously decided to support the revised budget for 2021, but by submitting a protest vote, said the movement's MP Michalis Giorgallas, in his speech at the debate on the Revised 2021 State Budget.
He will vote in favor of the revised budget because after the adoption of the proposals of the Citizens 'Alliance he has a more social face, said the President of the Citizens' Alliance George Lillikas, who in his speech before the Plenary also spoke, among other things, about mud political nonsense.
In this new form, the budget is not convincing as it seems that the target through the increase of expenses by 340 million is not enough to help the economy so hurt due to the restrictive measures and the unjustified in many cases of closing many companies, he said. Independent MP Anna Theologos in her speech before the Plenary Session
Stefanos Stefanou: Consistent in its positions, AKEL will vote against the budget
Nikolas Papadopoulos: Voting in favor of the budget is a reward for the entanglement
