Winning DISY seeks unity

2011-05-24

DISY chief Nicos Anastasiades said yesterday the people had “honoured his party” in Sunday’s elections, as the main opposition party savoured an electoral victory which gave them two extra seats in the 56-seat legislature.

Ruling AKEL was in second place while abstentions reached record-breaking levels with one in five staying away.

The results saw 18 new MPs elected.

DISY managed to gain the support of around 10,000 more people than in the previous parliamentary elections in 2006 – a 3.75 per cent rise and two extra seats – that saw the party first past the post with 34.27 per cent of the vote and 20 MPs. The party registered its highest level of support since 1996.

Our View: Despite a smaller turnout than in years past, we voted predictably

2011-05-24

SUNDAY’S parliamentary elections had no big surprises in store. The domination of the two biggest parties, which took two thirds of votes cast, was preserved, while the rest struggled to maintain the share of the vote they had secured five years ago. Only EDEK succeeded, with the rest of the smaller parties – DIKO, EUROKO – seeing their share of the vote decrease by about two percentage points.

Abstention: an unwelcome ‘winner’

2011-05-24

 

THE ABSTENTION rate for Sunday’s parliamentary elections reached an all-time high of 21.3 per cent, a figure almost double that of the previous elections.

“Abstention is one of the winners,” said President Demetris Christofias adding that this “was not a healthy phenomenon” and authorities should correct the situation.

The numbers of those refusing to vote have climbed sharply from about 4 per cent in 2001, to more than 10 per cent in 2006 and then to more than 21 per cent for the current ones.

About 113,000 registered voters did not bother to vote while almost 5,000 submitted a blank ballot slip.

A further 20,000 of the 34,000 of those newly eligible to vote having turned 18 since the last elections did not even register.

Minorities elect representatives

2011-05-24

The three religious minorities elected their house representatives on Sunday with the same three individuals once again voted in.

There were five candidates in total for the Maronites and two for the Armenians and Latins.

Antonis Hadjiroussos got about 33 per cent of the Maronite vote.

Hadjiroussos is an accountant and hails from Kyrenia.

He is married with a son and daughter.

Vartkes Mahdessian received more than 67 per cent of the Armenian vote.

Mahdessian is also married with a son and daughter and manages two companies in Cyprus and abroad.

He is chairman of the Armenian Young Men’s Association and has served in the board of management of the English School Nicosia between 1998 and 2004.

Expert identifies murder vehicle

2011-05-24

AN AUDIO visual expert yesterday identified in court yesterday the vehicles said to have been used to shadow and ambush the late Sigma owner Andis Hadjicostis.

State witness Grigoras Catalin, a Romanian national, took the stand to present his analysis of video footage and photographs of two vehicles – a motorcycle and a van.

Footage of the motorcycle came from cameras installed outside the Finlandia taxi office, located in close proximity to the crime scene in Engomi, Nicosia where Hadjicostis was killed in January 2010. Video recordings of the van from CCTV cameras were installed at the house of Fanos Hadjigeorgiou.

Helios trial: pressure control on manual, expert testifies

2011-05-24

 

A USA-BASED Boeing expert testified yesterday that the cabin pressurisation control valve was probably set on manual during the Helios plane crash in August 2005 which killed 121 passengers and crew.

The control valve should be set on automatic on flights and it is the pilots’ responsibility for ensuring this is the case during a routine pre-flight check.

According to the state prosecution for the Helios trial which continued yesterday, that responsibility would also extend to the airline which would be at fault for hiring incompetent pilots.

According to the accident investigation report released in 2006, the outflow valve on flight ZU522 was in the manual position before takeoff, which did not allow the cabin to pressurise.

Motorcyclist killed

2011-05-24

A 34-YEAR-OLD British national, Stephen David Carbine, was killed in a road accident in Latsi on Sunday when his motorcycle collided with a car driven by a 28-year-old man.

Carbine was rushed to Polis Chrysochous hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The 28-year-old was arrested after failing two alcohol tests.

The man had failed both a preliminary breathalyzer test on the spot and a second one later on.

EU Commissioner worried about illiteracy

2011-05-24

EUROPEAN Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vasiliou has urged young people to read as many books as possible in a bid to improve literacy levels.

Vasilliou was speaking after an event against illiteracy held at a local elementary school in Nicosia yesterday.

Referring to the latest figures, Vasiliou said one in five children in Europe cannot read well.

”They can read but they do not understand what they read. So, we have launched a campaign to encourage children to read more books and make them understand the value of reading,” she said.

Obama’s fine words

2011-05-24

Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East lasted for 40 minutes, but did it say anything new? Not exactly, although it did reinstate an old rule that had been abandoned. Two years after the American president’s much-ballyhooed speech in Cairo promised a new relationship with the Muslim world, not much has changed in American policy – but a great deal has changed in the Arab world.

Pakistan retakes naval base after just six militants lay siege

2011-05-24

TROOPS recaptured a Pakistani naval air force base yesterday after a 16-hour battle with as few as six Taliban gunmen who had launched their brazen attack to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The assault casts fresh doubt on the military’s ability to protect its bases following a raid on the army headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi in 2009 and is a further embarrassment following the surprise raid by US special forces on the al Qaeda leader’s hideout north of Islamabad on May 2.

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.