Opinion
By Dr. Kyriakos A. Kenevezos
There are moments in public life when a single word can expose an entire mindset.
The word “fantasy”, recently used by the President of the Republic to dismiss journalistic analyses, was no accident. It is not a careless label or a slip of the tongue. It hints at something deeper; a symptom of how power perceives itself.
A fantasy, in language, signals a break from reality: a mental construct built not on facts but on desires and illusions.
When the highest office in the land, the institutional face of Democracy, uses that word to describe those who dare to analyze, critique, or interpret political decisions, Democracy itself shrinks. Because Democracy does not thrive in the absence of criticism; it thrives in the ability to endure it.
No politician, no President, no matter how strong their popular mandate, has the luxury of labeling dissent as delusion.
Criticism,even when exaggerated, mistaken, or malicious, is the price of freedom. And this price must first be paid by those who promise change, transparency, and a new political culture.
Nikos Christodoulides was elected on the promise of a new style of governance. He spoke of open dialogue, respect for differing views, and a culture of participation.
Yet today, his words clash with that promise. A truly progressive leader is measured not by how quickly he responds, but by the quiet dignity with which he endures challenge.
Democratic leadership does not need irony. It demands composure, institutional generosity, and a clear understanding that power is borrowed.
When the President dismisses opposing voices as fantasies, he does not merely insult his critics. He diminishes the office itself.
Because in every society, power that believes it alone holds the truth inevitably retreats into its own illusions.
Our Democracy is not threatened by the imagination of citizens, journalists, or analysts.
It is threatened by the fantasy of authority, the illusion that power can exist beyond critique.
And the most troubling fact is this: a President, instead of responding with arguments, chooses to psychologize opposition.
The fantasy, then, is not ours. It is the one nurtured when power forgets that freedom of speech, even when inconvenient, is the mirror of Democracy.
And a President, above all, must stand before that mirror, not shatter it.
