The tip of the iceberg
Article by Eleni Mavrou, AKEL Political Bureau member
1st November 2020, ‘Haravgi’ newspaper
“It appears that the scandals that are being revealed are just the tip of the iceberg”, the former Attorney General Costas Clerides had stated sometime in late 2014.
I wonder what we must say today about all that has happened since then.
As, to be honest, I wonder where all those now expressing their outrage at the revelations of scandals are, when the warnings and denunciations, both in Cyprus and from abroad, were increasing in recent years.
Do you remember that, “completely by accident”, after Cypriot citizenships were granted to all the family of the Saudi tycoon, the President of the Republic traveled with his family for free in the tycoon’s luxurious private jet for holidays in the Seychelles?
Do you remember that it was the President and his Ministers who were approving applications for citizenship submitted by the law firms connected with them?
Do you even remember the ‘Troika Laundromat’ that implicates the law firm of Nikos Anastasiades in money laundering cases?
Do you remember that cases of illegal betting involving millions of Euros were in practice covered up?
Do you remember the complaints about privileged information being given to the President’s relatives and friends to avoid the haircut on bank deposits?
Do you remember the interwoven interests of the law firm of the President’s family with the procedure to sell off ‘Cyprus Airways’?
All of the above bear the stamp of the Anastasiades government.
For which of all of these scandals (and many more) were the guilty punished? We must not forget that the “golden” passports scandal arose as a result of the scandalous decisions approved and machinations made by the Anastasiades-DISY government. And this is precisely where we need to focus – on the root causes of the problem.
The beginning began just one month after the Anastasiades government was elected. The so-called “Cyprus Investment Program” that was set up was outstretched to serve expediencies and filled with holes.
The years were followed by the mass and uncontrolled granting of citizenships. Even when things had reached a breaking point, in the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives on 31st July 2020, the ruling DISY party made every effort to perpetuate a corrupt “get-rich-quick” scheme. The minutes of that session of the House are extremely revealing. Furthermore, that session clearly reveals why apportioning the blame on the whole of the House for the passport scandal is completely baseless – if not for ulterior motives.
The biggest provocation, however, was the statements made by N. Anastasiades last Friday. For years now, N. Anastasiades has not listened to the warnings on the “golden” passports scandal. Only now does N. Anastasiades admit that “mistakes” were made!
Mistakes which he states “do not only concern the government”!
For years now N. Anastasiades wasn’t reading the Reports on Cyprus’ record on corruption that was being registered since the day he took office. And now he is announcing initiatives to “repair a bad image we have conveyed”! For sure, corruption isn’t only a phenomenon of recent years.
The difference is that now the agencies of corruption are covered up in the higher echelons of power. We therefore need decisive legislative and institutional radical changes to strengthen scrutiny, transparency and the accountability of the state, institutions and private interests. But resistance on the part of society is also demanded.
And the easy saying “they’re all the same” and “forget it, politics is dirty” operates as an alibi for responsibilities not to be taken.
