THE government yesterday urged DISY chief Nicos Anastassiades and United Democrats leader George Vassiliou to withdraw their claims that the government had violated the freedom of expression during the referendum campaign.
Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides described their actions as unacceptable, adding that they only did the country damage.
“If the politicians who supported the ‘yes’ vote want to behave democratically, and if they do not want to insult the majority of the Cypriot people, they are obliged to withdraw these statements and letters, which are unacceptable and groundless,” Chrysostomides said.
Anastassiades last week wrote a letter to the President of the European Parliament Pat Cox charging that the conditions leading to the referendum had been “undemocratic, unacceptable and biased” and involved the abuse of the government apparatus to exert pressure on government employees and influence their decisions.
“Furthermore, the mass media (especially TV and radio stations) are under intense pressure by the associates of Mr Tassos Papadopoulos to misinform the public about the correct provisions of the proposed solution and present them systematically in a negative way,” Anastassiades wrote.
Cox immediately referred the letter to the Committee of Civil Liberties, asking it to examine the implications in terms of Cyprus’ compliance with the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Chrysostomides claimed that those supporting the ‘yes’ vote had been given more time by the media than the ‘no’ camp.
According to Chrysostomides’ statistics, politicians supporting the ‘yes’ vote got more airtime than their ‘no’ counterparts.
However, according to data released by the Broadcasting Authority, between March 24 and April 20, the ‘no’ camp got 100 hours of airtime on four television stations, compared to the 66 allocated to the ‘yes’ camp.
State broadcaster CyBC had the worst record with 43 hours allocated to the ‘no’ vote and 26 to the ‘yes’ camp out of a total of 70 hours – 68 per cent more.
But Chrysostomides insisted the allegations should be withdrawn: “The unfounded and groundless accusations, which are still being transmitted, are reflected in international agencies’ reports, on CNN and others, and Cyprus is at risk of making the list of countries where the freedoms of press and expression are banned.”
The spokesman blamed Anastassiades and Vassiliou for the situation, saying that with their actions they were adding more problems to the already heavy climate caused by the referendum.
“I urge everyone to behave with respect for the citizens’ verdict,” the spokesman said.
Chrysostomides said the government had provided ample information on the Annan plan and pointed out that it was up to the politicians whether they wanted to prove if they were statesmen or not.
