WE WOULD be foolish to believe, even for a moment, that the resignation of the head of the secretariat for the EU presidency Andreas Moleskis, was a signal that nepotism was no longer tolerated by our society. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nepotism or rusfeti (to use the local name) remains in rude good health, despite being made a criminal offence, some 10 years ago.
The fact that no criminal charges have been brought against anyone in these 10 years does not mean the disease had been banished from our society but that the law has never been enforced. It is a law that was passed at a time when the Clerides government was being accused of practising rampant nepotism, but nobody has ever taken it seriously. If they had, there would have been scores of people, including leading politicians, behind bars by now.
But rusfeti has been an integral part of our political system ever since the establishment of the Republic, when ministers would give a relative a hand-written note that would turn them into a full-time employee at a semi-state organisation or the police force. Strict appointment procedures have been put into place since those days and an aggrieved party has the right to appeal against a decision in the court but the practice has still not gone away. It is just practised via subtler methods.
This form of corruption is part of a wider problem. Independence spawned a ruling establishment, consisting of top civil servants, politicians, union bosses, businessmen and senior clerics all of whom treat the Cyprus Republic like a family business. Establishment members are the shareholders in this business, dispensing favours, distributing positions, awarding contracts and rewarding themselves and their families with big salaries and a range of benefits. People of all political affiliations belong to this exclusive club which gives instant access to the spoils of power.
People were outraged a few months ago to find out that a host of retired state officials/politicians were collecting several fat pensions from all the posts they had served in. This was because some cunning members of our ruling elite had made it possible for this lawful theft to take place. Should we also mention our deputies who receive a very generous monthly salary for a part-time job, half of which is not taxed? Or should we mention the huge state pensions they receive for serving a paltry 10 years as deputies? They drafted and approved these benefits themselves. Top ranking state officials have also been well looked after by the Republic.
Having taken care of themselves financially, the members of our establishment also take care of their offspring, relatives and political supporters in that order (the latter are helped in exchange for votes and so they would not complain about the former). Probably the simplest way of reducing the crippling state payroll, would be to lower entry level wages and subsequent pay-scales – this would not affect the existing work force – but this is not done because the shareholders of the Republic do not want their children entering the civil service on low salaries.
President Christofias may be a communist ideologue but he is also a proud member of our political establishment, who considers it a presidential right to dispense favours to friends and family. He had no qualms about appointing his son-in-law presidential advisor on Turkish affairs as soon as he was elected; his daughter is an actress at the state theatre company. The disastrous appointments of his pensioner friends, Akis Papasavvas as deputy Attorney General, Costakis Christoforou as Competition Commisioner and Moleskis were emphatic proof of his shameless commitment to nepotism.
We may have an anti-nepotism law and hypocritical politicians constantly calling for meritocracy but our self-perpetuating ruling elite will never surrender its free access to the spoils of power. No privileged class, anywhere in the world, has voluntarily given up its privileges which, in Cyprus, after 50 years of the Republic, have come to be regarded as a birth-right. This may explain why the staunchest opponents of a settlement of the Cyprus problem have always been members of the establishment. They could not possibly give their approval to dissolution of the Republic which has served them and their families so well for half century.
