Onasagoras
When this whole mess is over, we really should sit down and have an honest conversation with the British about the future of the bases. That’s what the president said, and for once, he’s probably voicing what most people are thinking. One day, perhaps, we’ll even resolve the bases issue. Ideally, we’ll handle it better than we did local government reform, where the “solution” somehow managed to be worse than the problem and left an already bad situation even messier.
MP Eirini Charalambidou has now alleged that companies made donations to the Social Support Fund, managed by the First Lady, and in return received lucrative state contracts worth millions. It’s not the first time whispers like this have surfaced, but when such a serious accusation comes from a sitting member of Parliament, it cannot just hang in the air unanswered, no matter how much one might wish not to believe it. The Presidential Palace must clear this up by publishing all the relevant details. Otherwise, it hands suspicion and cynicism a gift-wrapped invitation. The floor is yours. And so is our intelligence.
As for who bears responsibility for the uncontrolled spread of foot-and-mouth disease, that’s a debate with plenty of room for argument, though, institutionally speaking, someone ought to carry the can. It’s almost a rule of thumb: the guiltier a government feels, the more generous it becomes with compensation. Ever magnanimous, the president promised, rightly, substantial payouts to livestock farmers devastated by this unprecedented disaster. But let’s not forget: in economically delicate times, that money ultimately comes out of all our pockets. So please, no more “oversights.”
The Agriculture Minister, speaking on Andreas Demetriou’s program, blamed the ministry’s missteps on a “lack of resources and staff… as a result of the haircut.” Whatever that means. So half the Limassol mountains burn and foot-and-mouth runs wild because we didn’t have enough civil servants? In a country that ranks among the highest in the world in public employees per capita? We may not have had enough in the Agriculture Ministry’s budget, but somehow we’ll find €100 million for compensation to fire victims and farmers. Because money (apparently) both exists and doesn’t exist at the same time. Schrödinger’s budget.
Meanwhile, Nikolas Papadopoulos released details about the criminal past of certain candidates from the Direct Democracy movement. Fair enough, transparency is welcome. Though many on social media pointed out that it might also be enlightening if someone revisited the pasts of candidates and politicians from his own party, DIKO. After all, it’s a party that over the years has hosted individuals at every level whom you wouldn’t exactly describe as paragons of virtue. Just saying, my dear prince.
And then there’s Fidias, not the sculptor, the original, accusing Papadopoulos of forcing one of his candidates to withdraw through psychological bullying, citing a decade-old drug conviction. Fidias even invoked Jesus Christ, reminding us that forgiveness and second chances are part of the Gospel. Quite right. Though one wonders what Jesus would say if he returned today and tuned into Cyprus’ election campaign highlights. He might repeat, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Nor, I would add, what they say.
