Party feuding goes down slippery slope

President Nicos Anastasiades is acting more as a party leader than as the elected president of the Republic of Cyprus, the general secretary of opposition party Akel, Andros Kyprianou, said in an interview.

Sparking another round of the war words between Akel and Disy that has dominated the campaign for the European elections, Kyprianou said “it is obvious that Anastasiades is at multiple dead ends, and this is why he is behaving in this way.”

According to Kyprianou, Anasatasiades was facing problems relating to the National issue and the economy, as well as to “scandals, corruption and interference in the work of independent institutions and authorities in our country.”

These are only expected to get worse, Kyprianou forecasted, adding that “these exert unbearable strain on Anastasiades which it is obvious that he cannot control.” He had “reached a point where he swears and tries to discredit and diminish whomever criticises him,” said the Akel chief.

Akel sought no permission to publicly state its political positions and opinions, Kyprianou said, noting that his party would not follow Anastasiades and Disy down “this slippery slope.”

Responding on Sunday, Anastasiades said that “the leadership of Akel systematically attempts to distort my words,” and referred to the “nihilism” with which Akel and Kyprianou personally tried to discredit the government’s every achievement.

Anastasiades said he had “absolute respect for the people of the left, who do not identify with what they hear on a daily basis from their leaders.”

Fanning the flames, government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said that “Kyprianou knows the path of a slippery slope all too well: it is the one he follows every day when he blames the president of the Republic and the Greek Cypriot side without caring if in this way he provides an excuse for the Turkish attack on our country.”

“It may be convenient,” Prodromou added, “that with [Kyprianou’s] claim regarding a slippery slope, the public is reminded of the never-ending downward slope and the nightmare brought about by the policies of Akel.”