Electricity Has Become a Luxury: Why the Unions Promise to Hold the Authorities Accountable

On the eve of Eid al-Adha in Northern Cyprus, a new wave of social discontent erupted over another price increase. The Hür-İş trade union sharply criticized the government's actions, calling the 22 percent increase in electricity tariffs an «unacceptable» burden on the population.

In his statement, the chairman of the Hür-İş federation and the Kamu-İş union, Ahmet Serdaroglu, stressed that instead of supporting citizens, workers and small business owners, the government is forcing them to face a rising cost of living. According to the union leader, the current crisis is a direct result of incompetence, a lack of long-term planning and mistakes in the state's energy policy.

The union said that access to basic services such as electricity is an inalienable right of citizens, but the government's current course is leading to a chain reaction: higher electricity prices directly increase the cost of transportation, food and life in general. Hür-İş promised to continue fighting against policies that undermine the purchasing power of the population and demanded that the authorities take responsibility for the country's current economic situation.