Onasagoras
I’m the Law Commissioner, and I’ll call the Chief of Police. That’s what Ms. Louiza Zannetou allegedly said after struggling to blow into the breathalyzer machine, which, as she later explained, was due to asthma. Fair enough. Although during the incident, and her brief ''detention,'' let’s not forget, she managed to chain-smoke several cigarettes. The asthma, she claimed, slipped her mind in the heat of the moment. Happens to the best of us, right? OK then…
The court eventually acquitted her. Even though it initially found there was prima facie evidence to suggest wrongdoing, it ruled that the police had mishandled the situation. I can’t say I’m surprised. Police mishandling things? Shocking.
"I’m the Law Commissioner, and I’ll call the Chief of Police.” -Louiza Zannetou.
But here's the real question: Will anyone in the force take responsibility for these so-called “errors”? And if not, what happens when a regular citizen finds themself in the same situation, unable to blow into the machine? Should we all just start calling the Chief of Police? Can someone please give us his number?
Meanwhile, the Compact Superman of Energy says there’s no disagreement between the Energy Ministry and the Finance Ministry. It’s just that one believes we should fork out a few hundred million, and maybe more, while the other won’t budge until the basics are secured. Minor details. Hardly a difference.
The President says Cyprus is proud of its new generation. Lovely. Although, flipping that statement around, I’m not entirely sure the new generation is equally proud of the Cyprus we’re leaving behind. But that’s another tragic chapter altogether.
In yesterday’s heatwave, someone reminded us via social media that Cyprus gets a touch of cool weather between mid-November and mid-January. The rest of the year, we’re somewhere between “Oh God, it’s on fire” and “I can’t take this anymore; I’m going to faint.”
In other news, Erdogan recently shared a photo of Greek Cypriot fighters from the time of the Turkish TMT insurgency, thinking they were Turkish Cypriot fighters. We’ve confused our fighters, and our history, again. Bit of a blunder for the Turkish president. But to be fair, we did something similar for years, publishing a photo of a mourning Turkish Cypriot mother from 1963, thinking it showed a Greek Cypriot woman mourning in 1974. Turns out, a mother’s grief looks the same, regardless of the flag. Only the dates change.
And speaking of Erdogan, he clarified that despite young Nikos’ invitation, he doesn’t plan to visit the Republic of Cyprus. Did the President, by chance, run that by ELAM before making such a bold, and ultimately unsuccessful, suggestion? Still, who knows? Maybe Erdogan will accept an invitation from Fidias. Even just for a podcast.
*This op-ed by Onasagoras was translated from its Greek original
