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PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday blamed an “alliance” intent on harming the government for a downgrade of the country’s debt rating by Standard and Poor’s, saying his administration could assume no blame for the cut.
A similar comment was made a day before by Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis, who sought to shift the blame on to the Central Bank.
Speaking yesterday at an event to mark the April 1 EOKA anniversary Christofias said:
“The issue of the economy is being used in an unacceptable manner, blaming the government though it has absolutely no responsibility for the recent downgrade, no responsibility at all,” Christofias said.
SWITCHING from analog to digital television in July could be hit by delays if parliament does not pass the legal framework before April 14, when it dissolves ahead of the elections, the head of the broadcasting watchdog said yesterday.
“If it is not passed we cannot switch off [analog television] on July 1,” said Andreas Petrides, head of the Authority adding that the situation gets somewhat complicated afterwards.
“The cabinet will have to transfer the date [of the switchover].”
The bill basically extends the Broadcasting Authority’s power to supervise digital channels that go on air in July, in line with a government decision.
THE €20 MILLION state aid package for Cyprus Airways (CY) may have prevented its closure for now but the launch of a daily flight from Larnca to London-Heathrow at a competitive fare by Aegean means increased competition on two main routes, analysts said yesterday.
Bernard Musyck, an expert in aviation economics said: “The fact that Aegean decides to station planes in Cyprus and turn the island into a hub is a very bad sign for Cyprus Airways.”
He added: “It resembles a situation of carrion birds starting flying over an animal in the savannah, which is about to die. Aegean wants to be in position to exploit a possible bankruptcy of Cyprus Airways”.
APRIL 1 not only marks Cyprus’ independence struggle from British colonial rule but also an occasion to outright lie and play tricks on unsuspecting innocents. Newspapers in Cyprus yesterday were no exception.
‘Cyprus is ready to host Gaddafi,’ said Alithia going for the international angle. “According to our sources President Christofias has sent word to Muammar Gaddafi that Cyprus is ready to host him if he decides to leave Libya,” the article read. Christofia’s summerhouse in Kellaki was chosen as the best location to host the dictator where “there is a big garden to pitch a tent to accommodate Gaddafi and his family.”
CYPRUS yesterday marked April 1, which celebrates 56 years since the uprising of the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) against British colonial rule.
The armed guerrilla-style struggle for self-determination and union with Greece started on April 1, 1955 and lasted four years, leading to the 1960 birth of the Cyprus Republic, guaranteed by Britain, Greece and Turkey.
Festivities yesterday included church and memorial services as well as various events in all cities to mark the launching of the EOKA campaign.
“The anniversary message for today is one of reflection and drawing lessons,” said President Demetris Christofias describing as “tragic” the lack of unity at home.
LARNACA police launched a massive sting on three betting shops that lasted into the early hours of yesterday morning, confiscating large sums of money, title deeds and frozen rabbits – among other items.
Drug squad YKAN, Police Headquarters and rapid reaction team MMAD were among the services involved in the operation, which began at 10 pm on Thursday night – just a few hours after parliament’s discussion on a bill to regulate online gambling.
Confiscated evidence also included 12 computers used for online gambling, €11,710, $400, ?400 sterling and 160 cheques – the amount of which has not yet been estimated – and 11 de-activated rifles.
One man – the owner of one of the three shops – was taken in for questioning, charged and later released.
TWO deputies who stormed out of a parliamentary committee meeting on gaming on Thursday said yesterday they did so because they were fed up of pointless discussions.
Deputies, DISY”sAverof Neophytou and DIKO’s Angelos Votsis both said discussions on the gaming bill were going around in circles, and there had been a lack of order at the meeting.
The bill – which was being discussed in a joint meeting by the House Finance, Legal Affairs and Institutions Committees – had been talked to death in parliament before being sent to the European Commission (EC) for approval.
THE CYPRUS Hoteliers Association (PASYXE) yesterday hit back at SEK trade union’s claims that hotels in Paphos were implementing a policy of firing Cypriot employees in favour of using cheaper EU labour.
Neophytos Xenofontos, the Paphos district secretary for SEK claimed 10 hotels in the town had sent redundancy letters to dozens of their Cypriot employees just ahead of the start of the summer season. He also claimed that procedures were underway to employ EU workers in their place.
But Evripides Loizides, a spokesman for the Cyprus Hoteliers Association (PASYXE) told the Cyprus Mail yesterday: “The information Mr. Xenofontos gave out was incorrect and I had a two hour meeting with him following his claims.”
MARATHON TALKS between the European Council and European Parliament (EP) have collapsed after the Council’s refusal to label food from cloned animals.
Meat from the offspring of cloned animals could find its way onto the EU market, with no-one being any the wiser, after member state representatives from the Council refused the EU Parliament’s demand to label clone-derived products, according to a press release from the EU’s Parliament yesterday.
The two sides were unable to reach agreement on clone-derived food and nanotechnology after a marathon session.
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.
