WHY DID two government doctors have to travel down to Paphos with Diko leader and House president Spyros Kyprianou as he opened a museum and diocesan headquarters last Sunday?
Sixty-eight-year-old Kyprianou has only been back in the saddle of his official duties for a matter of weeks after undergoing emergency heart-surgery in London earlier this year.
Nonetheless, according to Alithia newspaper, Sunday’s arrangements were yet another example of government officials taking advantage of their position to secure "special" treatment at taxpayers’ expense.
Diko doesn’t see it quite like that, insisting the two Nicosia General Hospital physicians had volunteered to accompany Kyprianou on their day off, out of friendly concern for his well-being.
Diko and Alithia have been trading barbs over the issue in the newspaper’s editorial column all week.
Last Sunday, Kyprianou travelled down to Peristerona village, in the Paphos district, to inaugurate the headquarters of the new Arsinoe diocese and a Museum of Byzantine art. Kyprianou had been invited to do so by the Bishop of Paphos, Chrysostomos, who, as Alithia pointed out, had excused not inviting Archbishop Chrysostomos to the same events by saying he did not want to risk the church leader’s "frail health."
In his Tuesday column, Alithia editor Alecos Constantinides wondered why Kyprianou, a recovering heart-patient, had to be the one to go down to Peristerona, taking two government doctors with him.
"Could not another government dignitary have done the job?" Constantinides asked. "There are hundreds in this banana republic whose only ability is to inaugurate things," he added.
"But the real scandal is the ease with which our government officials can use government doctors as their personal physicians both at home and abroad," the Alithia editor stated. Constantinides pointed out that a senior government doctor had accompanied Kyprianou to London for his emergency heart surgery earlier this year and had stayed with him there for a month.
The editorial brought a swift response from Diko, which was published by Alithia the following day.
Party executive office member Christos Mesis attacked Constantinides, claiming his column had been motivated solely by "antipathy" for Kyprianou.
"In his haste to once again attack Mr. Kyprianou, Constantinides did not even make the effort to find out the true facts," Mesis charged.
The Diko man said two doctors who accompanied the Diko leader on Sunday "had themselves offered to accompany him out of friendly interest and respect for Mr Kyprianou and without their work at the Nicosia General hospital being affected in the slightest."
The doctors had given up their Sunday off to go with Kyprianou, Mesis insisted.
Constantinides responded by saying he wished doctors would show the same "friendly concern" to average citizens.
Yesterday, Alithia took another swipe at Kyprianou, publishing, in Constantinides’ column, a reader’s letter attacking top officials’ use of the government health service.
Why should government doctors be called upon to act as "personal physicians" for Kyprianou or any other official with the taxpayer footing the bill, the reader asked.
The reader attacked Kyprianou and other officials for taking top state doctors with them when they travelled abroad for treatment, depriving other "lesser" patients in Cyprus of the continued supervision of the absentee expert.
Akel leader Demetris Christofias and Archbishop Chrysostomos are cited as other officials to have recently taken advantage of their position in this way.
The state almost invariably foots the bill for public officials’ medical treatment abroad.
