WHENEVER we hear the statements made by President Christofias and AKEL’s top brass we become confused. We form the impression that either we are living in another country or that they are addressing people in another country.
The only sure thing is that they could not be in Cyprus, addressing Cypriots and talking such incoherent nonsense. Christofias, reaching new heights of the irrationality that has marked his words and deeds for a long time now, came up with another classic a few days ago – he was leaving office, proud of his achievements.
During the traditional cutting of the ‘vasilopitta’ at AKEL HQ, he said: “We leave, proud of our services to the Cypriot people. The government has managed to safeguard the rights and conquests of working people as well as issues relating to the sovereignty of the state during discussions with the troika.”
It takes a lot of nerve for someone leaving the presidency of a country that has gone bankrupt to feel proud of this achievement; this is probably the most insane statement ever made by a head of state. All our politicians talk nonsense, but this is in another league, as it crosses the boundaries of absurdity.
It would be very interesting if the president informed us which achievements he felt proud of on leaving office. The first thing that springs to mind of most people that heard him would have been the Mari disaster in which 13 people lost their lives and a power station was blown to bits causing losses of €1 billion to the economy. And all this because of the sick obstinacy of Christofias who insisted on the ‘safe’ keeping of vast quantities of explosives for the sake of a bloodthirsty tyrant, in order to get one over the Americans and satisfy his ‘anti-imperialist’ prejudices.
And he cannot be proud of the stench left by the scandals that decorated his presidency. He was personally responsible for some, as the heroes of these were his personal choices – friends and close associates at the presidential palace or the attorney-general’s office.
We all remember the case of the tooth implants of his personal appointee, deputy Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas that were paid for by the taxpayer and whom the president publicly defended. Then there were the rampant rousfeti orders which were being sent out from the PCs of his associates and the AKEL leader.
Was it these cases that made him proud and allowed him to leave office with his “head held high”? A president with so many embarrassments on his record should not leave with his “head held high” but with it hanging down in shame.
The best thing is that the president has an appetite for black humour now that he is leaving. In five years he almost doubled the foreign debt, squandering the borrowed money on provocative payments and benefits in the belief that this would buy votes for his re-election. Yet even though he will be leaving with his tail between his legs, he said he felt proud because he safeguarded the “rights and conquests of the working people”.
Was it the “conquests” of the 55,000 people who lost their jobs that he safeguarded? And what of the tens of thousands who saw their wages and pensions drastically cut under his presidency? Did he safeguard their “rights” as well? All this has nothing to do with the banks and the bankers, whom he wants to burden with his own unforgivable sins, as if their own blunders were not enough.
Finally, we should not say anything about the Cyprus problem, about which the “solution president” thought he was fooling everyone for five years. Departing from office he leaves partition so firmly cemented, that not even the most powerful pneumatic drill could crack it.
