Cyprus Survey Shows Astounding Lack Of Faith In Politicians On Stock Exchange Issues

by Lorys Charambolous, Tax-news.com, Cyprus

27 April 2001

A recent public opinion poll conducted for Cyprus' Financial Mirror newspaper by CMR Cypronetwork has revealed the sentiments of investors and the general public towards the country's ailing stock exchange, unearthing a widespread lack of faith in the government and Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) officials.

The problems faced by the CSE in recent months are well-documented, and the government has even had to draft in a Greek expert, Demetris Tsimbanoulis, who has come up with recommendations aimed at improving the fortunes of the CSE. It's just as well that the Cyprus government has brought in an outsider to try and remedy the problem, given that in the recent survey as many as three in five questioned said they had no faith in members of parliament and the political parties when it comes to stock exchange issues.

The survey questioned 800 adults, many of them active investors in the CSE, who apportioned the blame for the CSE crisis and the significant losses for investors to the House Finance Committee, as well as the stock market authorities. Of those polled, 35 per cent said they had little trust in the House Finance Committee and 39 per cent said they had none at all. The survey showed the lack of support for Finance Minister Takis Clerides, whilst the CSE Council, the CSE Director and the Securities and Exchange Commission were given the thumbs down by a hefty nine out of ten respondents.

Half of those polled said they had invested in the CSE, with many having lost money themselves. Around three in five people said they would never again trade on the CSE.

When it comes to the most popular political parties that seem competent to deal with stock market issues, the left wing opposition AKEL came out on top, with the support of 20% those polled, followed by the ruling DISY with 11 per cent, the social democrats KISOS with 6 per cent, DIKO with 4 per cent, New Horizons with 2 per cent and the United Democrats with 1 per cent. More than half of those surveyed said none of the parties was competent to deal with CSE related issues.

The Financial Mirror said the poll showed that it was the high-net-worth individuals who really came down heavily on the MPs as far as the CSE is concerned, and suggested that if the May 27 elections were to be decided on the way political parties were handling CSE problems, then half the parties and their MPs would be out of work. The paper suggested that their inability to deal with the CSE is perhaps the reason why the election campaigns of so many parties are focusing on the age-old Cyprus problem and the country's aspirations for EU membership.

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