AS the February 28 deadline draws closer, deputies are today set to literally rush through parliament an amendment to the law requiring politicians to submit their personal assets.
With the clock ticking away and less than a 100 hours to go, reports emerged yesterday that parliament might give an extra two-month extension for the submission of capital statements because an undetermined number of affected people would not make it in time.
As the law stands, anyone not filing their personal assets by February 28 runs the risk of being slapped with a £3,000 fine, plus a £50 penalty per every extra day of delay.
Almost two weeks ago, the Capital Statement Commission held a news conference, where it emerged that only a tiny fraction of the forms had been submitted. Evidently the pace has not picked up much since then.
Those affected include the government spokesman; Central Bank governor; the president and members of the Civil Service Commission; senior administrative and executive officers of SGOs; mayors, muhtars and municipal councillors; the National Guard chief and deputy chief; the chief and deputy chief of the police force; and a number of regulators, such as the chairman of the Competition Protection Committee.
Although extensive media coverage was given to the issue, it turned out yesterday that hundreds of government officials and municipal councillors were still dragging their feet.
A separate yet virtually identical law applies to the President, the House Speaker, ministers and deputies. Ostensibly delays are not accepted in their case.
DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides, who chairs the House Watchdog Committee, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that it probably all began when municipal councillors complained they should not be included on the list.
Faced with lobbying from many individuals and groups, the House Legal Affairs Committee will today be looking into whether to grant a postponement.
The committee is set to convene in the morning and, assuming it proposes an amendment, the law will be fast-tracked later in the afternoon at a plenum session of parliament.
But Pourgourides thought that amending the law at the 11th hour would be a “serious mistake,” because it would call into question politicians’ credibility in general.
“We would give the public the wrong impression,” he said.
Although Pourgourides conceded that in some cases the request for an extension was justified, on the whole most people should have done this by now.
“Unless you are extremely wealthy and need an accountant to gather the data, filling in the form should take… what… three to four hours. Can’t they set one afternoon aside to get this done?” he wondered.
Asked whether the glitch was due to downright laziness or indifference, the outspoken deputy had this to say:
“When it comes to performing our public duties, we Cypriots never do it in time, we always wait for the last moment… we’re very good at lecturing other people, but when it’s our turn, we don’t always deliver.”
Still, Pourgourides suggested a middle-of-the-road solution; for example, those not meeting the deadline could be given a sort of “last warning” and two more weeks to comply.
It was the latest twist in the long-running story of cracking down on unmerited enrichment, dating back to the late 1990s. In 1999 a similar law was eventually rejected by the Supreme Court on the grounds it was unconstitutional. And the present law was also botched initially in the summer of 2004, when deputies failed to include a clause making it retroactive. In December parliament finally got around to plugging this glaring loophole.
Pourgourides acknowledged that the issue has degenerated into a farce.
“This thing has been going on since time immemorial,” he quipped.
In neighbouring Greece, the relevant laws apply to government officials and even civil servants, the rationale being that any public functionary handling state finances should be subject to control.
Nevertheless, clerics are exempt, despite the fact their salaries are paid by the state. And recently the law was amended to include journalists and news networks because of the influence they exercise on public figures.
But even in Greece the media are highly sceptical; some commentators there have suggested the practice has become so routine and meaningless that it’s similar to posting a top 10 celebrity list of the richest politicians.
