THE PUBLIC was captivated yesterday, glued to their TV and radio sets to watch Polys Polyviou report on the political responsibility of the Mari blast.
Shopkeepers and strollers on Ledra Street had already started formulating opinions on the report by early afternoon.
“We already knew the President was responsible,” a passer-by said with his friend quickly adding: “This is no news to us.”
“The President has come out looking a bit of a liar,” shopkeeper Lia Loizidou said adding that President Demetris Christofias was aware of the cargo’s danger though he claimed the opposite.
But Loizidou thought that Polyviou should have named more individuals.
“Why is he only accusing the President and his Ministers (of Defence and Foreign Affairs)?” Loizidou said.
“The report should have been clearer,” she added.
Others questioned the committee’s conclusions because it comprised of a single person.
“There are other equally competent experts who should have been asked to contribute,” a shopkeeper said.
“We should have got a second, third or fourth opinion,” he added.
Opinion was divided however on whether Polyviou exposed the full extent of responsibility and of everyone responsible.
“The President is responsible of course but the army was in charge of storing it: that’s where responsibility starts,” Yiannakis Azad said.
Azad said that parties were quick to blame Christofias but since the National Guard was in a better position to assess the cargo’s condition primary responsibility lay with them.
“Why did Ioannides (the navy commander killed in the blast) allow even a few people to remain behind?” Azad said.
But Polyviou had definitely earned the respect of many.
“Polyviou is a straight talker,” Andreas Dalitis said.
“I believe his report is just and attributed responsibility correctly: it was both political and personal,” Dalitis said.
“The report exhibited the arrogance and lack of responsibility of those who are part of the state engine,” Dalitis said.
And while many were happy with the report and its conclusions, many more were cynical about its importance.
“We don’t really know what will happen next,” an elderly couple said.
“We will have to wait and see if this changes anything,” they said.
