THE ECONOMIC crisis was not the only thing on the President’s mind during yesterday’s televised press conference as the public also got to hear about his 20 years driving a Lada, the rise of the underworld, taxing the church and the good old days of price caps.
Following his speech on domestic affairs, President Demetris Christofias was asked about the government’s decision to buy a new fleet of cars. He replied that he had reached breaking point with the current crop of presidential vehicles, which broke down on him three times in the last two years, including during the recent visit of the Lebanese President.
“Because of the crisis, I stopped the purchase of new cars many times. But we reached the end of our tether. If it wasn’t for the escort cars that were with us, we would have had to hitchhike to get where we wanted to go,” he said.
“This happened three times. I felt very uncomfortable with people watching as we got out the car to see if there was an oil or water leak and then getting in the escort car to reach our destination. It doesn’t bother me personally, but it’s an issue of respect for the office of the president,” he added.
Christofias was at pains to stress that he was not a man who demanded luxury but that the nature of the job required some comfort. “I spent years walking. For 20 years I had a Lada with a very heavy wheel travelling around Cyprus without complaint.”
He also hit back at claims that the government was spending too much money on the new fleet of Mercedes which will replace the old BMW fleet, highlighting that the president’s new car cost €40,000 while around €32,000 has been spent in the last two years just fixing the previous car.
“Are we going to keep paying €10,000 to €12,000 every time the car stops working? It’s seven years old.”
Asked whether now was a good time to tax the church’s business activities, given the crisis, Christofias responded, that for better or for worse, he was always in constant conflict with certain church figures.
“The business activities of the church should be taxed here and now,” he said, calling for serious dialogue and mutual understanding with the church. “But no one can hide behind the holiness of their institution. It has to be understood that we all have obligations. This is a secular state.”
Quizzed on prevailing high prices, the president reminisced about the days when there was a pricing committee that used to set a cap on prices of certain products. Questioning the effectiveness of the free market to regulate competition, Christofias said he has instructed his commerce minister to see how much the EU would let the government put a price cap on certain basic products.
Asked about the existence of a “criminal underworld”, he said he had warned people as far back as 1990 there was a drugs problem in Cyprus. Crime in Cyprus was part of a wider global problem regarding drug trafficking and illegal migration, “without condemning the migrants, they are victims of the general crisis of the system”.
In reference to the Antonis Kitas escape fiasco last year, Christofias pointed out that it was under his administration that a justice minister and police chief resigned for the first time. Not because they were to blame but because they had certain responsibilities, he added.
“We are trying now with the police leadership to clean up the police force, it needs more,” he said.
On the problems facing the Central Prison, the president noted that overcrowding has been a long-standing problem, adding that his government was prepared to build a new prison, despite the crisis.
Regarding criminal figures, he said: “There are some who are trying to direct the fate of many people, and we don’t accept this. And when I hear opinions on the need to raise revenue and legalise casinos in every village, I am very sad.
“It’s not enough that it’s illegal, that we go to the occupied north and spend €2.5 billion. At what point does the responsibility of the citizen come into play?” he asked.
Asked about plans for the National Health Plan (NHP), Christofias argued that 90 per cent of the population in Cyprus had access to free health care. “Tell me many countries that have that and I’ll raise my hat,” he said.
On the NHP, he said there was work to be done to organise the hospitals and medical centres into autonomous ones, as well as bring doctors on board.
“The NHP is not a simple case. We want one that will be functional and viable. The political parties, not excluding my own party AKEL, rushed in 2006 to approve the bill on the NHP.”
He said former president Tassos Papadopoulos had rightly warned at the time that it was too early to pass such a bill, highlighting the need for a more serious calculation of the costs necessary to make it viable. “I hear it in my ears since taking over, and see first hand this issue of the NHP,” said Christofias.
