Opinion
By Michalis Sophocleous
First, let me once again salute the initiative of the President of the Republic to present the government’s goals on an annual basis. It is a good step, even if it remains unfinished, insofar as it is not followed by parliamentary or journalistic scrutiny. And while responsibility for parliamentary scrutiny lies with Parliament and its Speaker, responsibility for journalistic scrutiny lies with the President himself. Nikos Christodoulides, three years in power, has not held a single press conference.
Now let’s get to the substance. The President, in the so-called State of the Union, was less pompous than in previous years and attempted to highlight the three areas society records as positives for the government and for himself: foreign and regional policy, the main economic indicators and upgrades, and migration.
Up to this point, fine and reasonable. The problem, however, lies in the country’s major issues, which not only persist but are growing. The great challenges on which he avoided taking a stance by every possible means. Once again, he lined up secondary measures, band-aids, to treat deep-rooted pathologies that require radical therapies.
Starting with our national issue, the President’s brief reference is insulting. Beyond the routine generality of “I am ready even tomorrow to go to talks,” Mr. Christodoulides did not tell us what he intends to do to overcome the newly emerging deadlock, nor how he understands the Cyprus problem within the new geopolitical and regional reality.
The President spoke about energy, yet without any reference to the flagship projects of Vasilikos and the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection (GSI). Demonstrating that there is no energy strategy whatsoever, on an issue that, together with the Cyprus problem and geopolitics, is critical to any regional or European ambition Cyprus may have.
This complete lack of strategy was also evident in water policy, where Mr. Christodoulides attempted to shift responsibility for his government’s shortcomings onto the citizens. And likewise in the country’s digital transition and modernization. Because yes, AI Factories and supercomputers sound great, but after three years, the only thing this government has to show is a digital ID that remains unused. He did tell us, of course, that we will be buying tickets for sports events through the digital citizen…
On the economy, President Christodoulides is making a major mistake—one that, unfortunately, the business world also shares. Yes, indicators and credit ratings are necessary; without them, you go nowhere. But the purchasing power of wage earners in Cyprus is among the lowest in Europe. The wage gap between the public and private sectors is widening, and the state payroll is expected to exceed a 40% increase within just five years. The government is grabbing money “by the bucketful” from the Social Insurance Fund in order to present surpluses and pay salaries. In healthcare, neither the autonomy of hospitals, nor the financial sustainability of GESY, nor the abuses are being addressed. In education, we continue (state and parents alike) to pay the highest cost in Europe, only to get the worst results, without any appetite for reform.
As a result, family financial burdens are becoming unbearable, especially when there are children. And yet, there is no comprehensive family policy, only fragmented and poorly targeted welfare initiatives. The housing cost crisis will not be solved with a few hundred homes from KOAG, but with measures that encourage a rapid increase in supply from the private sector. Electricity in Cyprus remains the second most expensive in all of Europe. Certainly, tax reform helped, but the household budget is still not sustainable.
The President once again focused on the broad notion of security. But what security are we talking about when crime is running rampant day and night across Cyprus? What do body cameras for police officers (a correct measure) have to do with organized crime (absolutely nothing)? And I wonder, does he truly believe he will solve the issue of civil protection with a helipad in Solea, after the criminal shortcomings of last summer?
But where the President truly enraged people is on the issue of accountability. Because he has no right to speak about the accountability of others when he himself does not account for videogate, the black funds and money he is already collecting for 2028, the mechanism through which he is allegedly running a pre-election campaign with public money. There too, he avoided the elephant in the room, as he does on every critical issue. Even if, by behaving like an ostrich, the only thing he achieves is to further ignite the deep disappointment, indignation, and shame that citizens already feel.
