WHEN the chairman of CyTA Stathis Kittis announced that together with the chairmen of the Electricity Authority and Ports Authority they were considering securing loans from abroad to prevent the privatisation of their organisations, most sensible people thought he was joking. The idea was dismissed as just another example of a populist, pipe-dream that would earn the applause of union bosses and then be forgotten... 11 comments

THE DINNER for President Anastasiades and Dervis Eroglu that would be hosted by the UN Secretary-General’s special representative Alexander Downer will go ahead as planned even though the date has reportedly been switched to May 30. It will supposedly maintain its social character, as Anastasiades had demanded in the letter he sent to Ban Ki-moon last Friday.In his letter the president complained that Downer had tried to turn the dinner into a political event despite having given assurances to the contrary. He felt that Downer’s associates “had leaked to unauthorised individuals inaccurate information, with the result of the undermining of our credibility and the creation of the mistaken impression about the resumption of the peace talks... 12 comments

THERE is a sense of deja vu in the political row over the powers of the Governor of the Central Bank, but the roles have been reversed. Whereas three years ago, AKEL was publicly pillorying the then Governor Athanasios Orphanides, accusing him of undermining the government and attempting to curtail his powers it is now the biggest champion of the Governor’s independence and staunch defender of his powers... 5 comments

FAILURE and ineptitude have marked our society’s efforts to deal with football hooliganism. At the weekend, a group of masked hooligans decided to attack policemen on duty by the Apoel clubhouse, throwing stones, firecrackers and Molotov cocktails at the officers. The hooligans managed to set a police patrol car ablaze, which was completely destroyed by the fire, before they fled. ... 10 comments

IT DID NOT take the leadership of the CyBC long to respond to the DISY plan to pass an amendment bill depriving the state broadcaster from carrying advertisements. Just a few hours after the new DISY leader Averof Neophytou spoke about the party’s intention, the chairman of the CyBC board Makis Symeou declared that if the corporation was deprived of advertising revenue it would not be able to carry out its mission... 8 comments

VACUOUS rhetoric and conspiracy theories have been constant features of our political life. The politicians may change but the tradition of churning out empty and usually irrational slogans and unearthing imaginary plots against Cyprus are always preserved. Nothing can temper the passion for meaningless sloganeering, cynically calculated to caress the ears of the electorate and keep politicians free of any responsibility for the problems facing the country. Not even the devastating shock our economy has suffered has persuaded them to change their ways and abandon this immature political behaviour... 3 comments

THE NEW DISY leader Averof Neophytou, departing from the presidential palace on April 29, made a rather unusual statement for our strange country. He said, “to make an omelette you have to break eggs.” This is a far from original metaphor, but it was a daring suggestion nevertheless.He called on the president to proceed with decisiveness and determination, warning him that he should be prepared to clash with vested interests and change people’s mentality. What Neophytou meant is very clear. The vested interests he wanted President Anastasiades to take on were the unions of state and semi-governmental employees... 9 comments

WE HAVE reached a point where people have started wondering how it could have ever been worse. Where will this bumpy road lead us? How will the wounded grassroots react, now that they realise that the past five years have brought about the pulverisation of their dreams?There are people who have offered part of their possessions to soothe the pain. I do not know whether this will be sufficient. Poet and philosopher Kahlil Gibran writes in his “Prophet”:“You give but little when you give of your possessions     it is when you give of yourself that you truly give”.Probably some people have really given of themselves as well. Probably…... 28 comments

Cyprus has been invariably called a paradise; a paradise for tourists, a paradise for lawyers and accountants, a paradise for bankers and civil servants, a paradise for Russian oligarchs, even a paradise for money launderers; a paradise nevertheless... Read on

During Cyprus’ property sale ‘boom years’, most estate agents/developers employed at least one Russian/English speaker part-time. Now they employ a Mandarin/English speaker, who is likely to be a Chinese lady married to a Cypriot. Mainland Chinese do not speak English, and those who say they do are limited to several tens of words enunciated incomprehensibly. In fact, it would be nigh impossible for any to negotiate the purchase of a house and live in Cyprus without the assistance of an interpreter... 10 comments