Tougher stance coming on racist crimes

2010-11-26

 

PARLIAMENT WILL discuss a new bill next week introducing stricter laws on racist crimes which will allow judges to take racist or xenophobic motivation into account when sentencing for a crime.

One legal analyst welcomed the proposed changes but argued there is already pretty strong legislation on racism in Cyprus which the courts and legal services are simply not using.

Nicos Trimikliniotis, director of the National Focal Point for Racism and Xenophobia, said the new law would tighten up existing law which was already “quite tight”.

Our view: Time for Christofias to face facts

2010-11-26

UNTIL yesterday afternoon, the government had avoided making any comment on the UN Secretary-General’s report on his mission of good offices in Cyprus. The spokesman eventually uttered some platitudes, avoiding however mention of the substance of the report. What could the spokesman meaningfully say after the boasts of the government about last week’s meeting in New York, were exposed as nonsense by Ban Ki-moon’s report.

Cheating ‘a la Greek’: the illegal government slaughterhouse

2010-11-26

PHILELEFTHEROS reported on November 23, that the government had given a loan of 500,000 euros to the government slaughterhouse through the union of municipalities, effectively breaking EU rules about government funding to companies. The issue is serious since the government is committed on paper not to aid the government slaughterhouse without the EU commission’s approval. Now a request for the government to become the guarantor of a loan given to the slaughterhouse by the Bank of Cyprus is in jeopardy. A fine or a suspension of EU payments could be in order since there was a clear attempt to undermine the basic principles of the EU – that it is illegal to sponsor national companies.

Only government sees silver lining in UN report

2010-11-26

THE GOVERNMENT stood alone yesterday in finding positives from the UN Secretary-General’s report on Cyprus distributed to the Security Council a day earlier.

While ruling AKEL reserved judgement, the remaining parties took turns to point out the warnings, omens and bad signs from UNSG Ban Ki-moon’s assessment of his Good Offices Mission on the island.

In the rather strong-worded report, Ban warned that a critical window of opportunity to resolve the Cyprus issue was rapidly closing. In the meantime, negotiations remain “sluggish”, “frustratingly slow” and “disappointing”.

End near for online gambling

2010-11-26

MOST likely by next month the government will know whether a bill aiming to ban online gambling altogether will get the nod from the European Commission, Attorney-general Petros Clerides said yesterday.

If the Commission’s answer is positive, parliament would pass the law without further delay, he said. “I think we can expect the Commission to get back to us in December,” Clerides told newsmen.

The bill outlaws online games like roulette, poker, and slot machines, but allows for licences for sports betting outlets. It further provides for the creation of a gaming board that will regulate betting in Cyprus itself. Licensed shops will pay a tax on turnover, not profit.

€81 million in extra spending approved

2010-11-26

WITH THE exception of the cash needed to move an army camp in Nicosia to make way for a luxury complex by Qatari investors, parliament yesterday approved an €83 million supplementary budget by majority vote.

MPs decided to freeze the €2 million fund for the Qatari investment, meaning that it will have to be re-discussed at the House Finance Committee, which will then decide if it will be sent back to the Plenum for approval or if the government’s request will be rejected.

This latest development is expected to bring added pressure to the government, which is expected to meet with the Qatari investors this Sunday, to negotiate the entire cost of the investment and the value of the state land that will be offered in exchange.

Eurocypria demise still raising hackles

2010-11-26

MPs yesterday called on Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis to reveal the names of the deputies he claimed had intervened to save a former Eurocypria manager from being fired, after allegations that  he had signed contracts damaging to the airline to serve personal interests.

Stavrakis made the claims earlier in the week, saying that not only had MPs applied pressure on him to save the Eurocypria official from being fired, they had also asked for him to receive compensation – which he didn’t.

The matter was raised by DIKO’s Nicos Cleanthous, during the plenary session to discuss the situation with bankrupt state-owned Eurocypria and the future of its workers.

Failed airline’s dismantling due to begin next week

2010-11-26

AS THE process of dismantling Eurocypria is set to begin next week, politicians continued bickering yesterday over the how and why the charter airline was allowed to go under.

A meeting of the airline’s creditors is to take place at the Finance Ministry on Monday. Its purpose is to appoint a liquidator to settle all of Eurocypria’s outstanding dues and receivables – making official the company’s long-awaited demise.

Meanwhile Eurocypria employees were yesterday paid their November salaries, the percentage of their 13th salaries, and cashed out their provident fund.

Unions and the government are negotiating a redundancy package for the some 300 Eurocypria workers who are now out of a job.

AKEL leader lashes out at Christofias’ detractors

2010-11-26

THE LEADER of AKEL yesterday censured those who attack President Demetris Christofias, warning them that their only ‘gain’ was the Cyprus issue losing ground.

Speaking before the party’s 21st congress, Andros Kyprianou said: “Every chance is exploited to lay blame on the president.”

Kyprianou said there was a strong impression that this is happening simply because Christofias was the president.

“We have said it many times and we will repeat it: those who think they gain something from the full-frontal attack they launch against the president are fooling themselves; the only thing they ‘gain’ is the Cyprus question losing ground,” Kyprianou said.

Deputies walk out over legal services’ spat

2010-11-26

AKEL and DIKO deputies yesterday walked out of  the House Institutions Committee over discussions it was having about a personal spat between a state legal counsel and the deputy attorney-general.

AKEL’s Yiannakis Thoma and Klavdios Mavrohannas, along with DIKO’s Nicos Cleanthous, said they could no longer participate in a parliamentary session that had no bearing on the way parliament operates and was more like a courtroom.

The three deputies stormed out as state counsel Savvas Matsas was giving his account of the events that led to the public spat with his superior, Deputy Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.