Statement by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, on the Report of the Audit Office on the government’s “golden passports” scheme
23 August 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
The Report released by the Audit Office on the “golden passports” scheme has confirmed, for the umpteenth time, the rotten situation of entanglement/interwoven interests, corruption and illegal actions that the Anastasiades-DISY government has created, maintained and regenerated during the ten years of its tenure and made it the “most corrupt government”.
It is this situation that has seen the institutional entanglement/interwoven interests and corruption in our country reach unprecedented levels.
It is this situation that for years has tarnished the name of our country internationally.
It is this situation that even forced the European Commission itself to initiate legal proceedings against Cyprus.
The political responsibility of the government is self-evident since it is the Council of Ministers that decided on the granting of passports. And as the report notes, in at least 74 cases it has broken the law by granting citizenship to fraudsters, to dictators, to people with illegal and suspicious dealings. Never mind from the warnings issued that were ignored, never mind the multi-million rebates on taxes and fees, and other government favors.
If the Anastasiades-DISY government respected the rule of law and citizens, it would have resigned long ago. Instead of doing so, whenever issues were raised – and they have been raised many times at least since 2015 – the government has sought give excuses and alibis.
It is clear that the government is not only not considering resigning, but is looking for ways to extend their presence in power with another person either via the President of DISY and presidential candidate, Averof Neophytou, or via the former top-ranking member of the Anastasiades-DISY government and presidential candidate, Nikos Christodoulides, who was directly involved in the granting of citizenships by virtue of overseeing the CIP.
It is citizens who can remove DISY from power. Those who participated in it and those who have been lavishly supporting and providing it with full political and moral cover must go.
The Presidential Elections are the opportunity to put an end to entanglement/interwoven interests and institutionalised corruption, to clear the name of Cyprus internationally.
