Statements by AKEL Political Bureau member A. Damianou:
The President’s public questioning of the Guterres Framework only reinforces the Greek Cypriot side’s unreliability
Sunday 25 June 2023, “Haravgi” newspaper
The government’s first signs indicate that Nicos Christodoulides either does not want or cannot escape from the practices and mentalities of Mr. Anastasiades and his administration, of which he was – after all – a leading member. This is the feeling of the average citizen, AKEL Political Bureau member Aristos Damianou pointed out to “Haravgi” newspaper.
The Christodoulides government started with provocative and irregular appointments that were not the result of some meritocratic selection, but rather the result of post-election transactions. Mr. Christodoulides admitted it himself, moreover, saying that these people had left their jobs to elect him. So he is paying off pre-election bills. This is called cronyism and clientelism. He has appointed close family and friends to the Presidential Palace. This is called nepotism. What is worse is that for days he and his Ministers and deputy Ministers insisted on the correctness of the appointments made until the political pressure exerted and popular outcry led those concerned to resign from their posts. The Christodoulides government never apologized for its failures and expediencies.
When it comes to the issues that plague society, especially workers, the lower middle strata and small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, the Christodoulides government seems to be pursuing the path of its predecessor. The rhetoric and actions of the Finance Ministry on the issues of foreclosures, expensiveness, the arbitrariness of the banks towards borrowers and guarantors are copy paste, a copy of the Anastasiades government’s policies.
We have also noted actions where Ministers demonstrated positive reflexes on certain issues, by adopting our own positions, such as on the issues of quarterly exams, the existing danger in refugee settlement buildings and apartments, and so on.
However, the biggest political deficit concerns the handling of the Cyprus problem. The focus on the appointment of an EU special envoy, instead of focusing on the effort for the resumption of the procedure of the solution of the Cyprus problem under the auspices of the UN, based on the Guterres Framework, is a cause for concern. The EU’s role must be to assist the efforts for a solution within the UN framework. And Mr. Christodoulides’ public questioning of the Guterres Framework does not help the Greek Cypriot side’s already damaged credibility.