The government’s actions have left the Republic of Cyprus repeatedly exposed internationally
Statement by the General Secretary of AKEL A.Kyprianou on the ‘Al Jazeera’ revelations about the government’s golden passport scheme
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 24th August 2020, Nicosia
The logic of the ruling Democratic Rally DISY party and government in general, is astonishing, but I regret to note of the mass media too on the issue of the golden passports scheme.
I am not just referring to Al Jazeera’s report yesterday. I am referring to the issue in general.
On this matter, as on several other issues too, the government’s actions have left the Republic of Cyprus repeatedly exposed internationally. So instead of apologizing for their behavior, the government ruling forces are trying to blame others who are pointing out the abusive way in which they have acted and continue to act in some cases on the specific issue.
The government’s citizenship-by-investment-scheme helped the Cyprus economy in very critical and decisive moments. It is its abuse by the government ruling forces that has caused all these problems.
Now the government ruling forces are trying to convince us that from the moment that after a seven-year delay a framework has been elaborated which one can say is bearable to some extent – of course due to interventions made by DISY at the last minute in the Plenary of the Parliament this framework has been weakened to a large extent- they are trying to convince us that because this has been done seven years late, no one should criticize the way the whole program has been handled during all the previous period.
Their approach is reminiscent of someone seeking to impose total silence on the issue. That is to say, you shouldn’t express an opinion on the issue as it would put the Republic of Cyprus in danger. Some forces and circles confuse the Republic of Cyprus with Nikos Anastasiades. For us, the Republic of Cyprus is not Nikos Anastasiades.
When was the relevant framework improved?
It was improved after a great deal of pressure was exerted on the domestic front by AKEL and other political parties and after the international outcry. First and foremost on the part of the European Union, but also by other mass media outlets all over the world on this issue.
Only then did the government try to improve the legislative framework which it had previously sought to weaken its criteria. So there are serious questions that AKEL repeats and is seeking answers to.
Is it possible that any regulations, as weak as they were, would allow passports to be issued to persons against whom criminal proceedings were initiated against?
Is it possible that the program’s regulations, no matter how weak they were at the initial stage, permitted illegal actions?
This is an issue about which the Ministry of Interior must give a convincing answer to and not state in a general and vague way that the legal procedures were followed. If what is being recorded is true then the government’s arguments are completely unconvincing.
Secondly, the government ruling forces must finally tell us who from the government, the wider administration, participated in companies that were active on the issue of granting passports/citizenship. Was it only the law office of the President of the Republic or are there others who participated in any offices that developed activity on the issue of issuing passports? Furthermore, it would be helpful if they could also tell us how many passports have been issued by the specific offices.
Finally, I want to dwell on an issue that we consider unethical and unacceptable. Private media channels, even though they too are behaving in an unethical way, I say that they are not public radio and television channels. Public service broadcasting cannot be transformed into an instrument for transmitting government propaganda. I regret to note that the state-owned Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation RIK for the umpteenth time on this issue has operated as an instrument of propaganda for promoting government policy, the government’s position and the position of ruling DISY. This is unacceptable, they must realize that RIK is a public radio and television channel and they cannot reproduce DISY’s arguments.
