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At times when a leader is being
judged or criticized, the first to be informed about what is being attributed
to him are none other than you, the citizens, who have given me the mandate
and to whom I am primarily accountable.
This is why I thought that
before the new measures and the anti-corruption strategy were announced, I
could not help but comment on the current situation in Cyprus.
And, of course, not in order to
deny the existence of the phenomenon of corruption, a phenomenon that has plagued
the Republic of Cyprus since its establishment, or all the countries, since
ancient times.
What I want to highlight,
though, is the orchestrated attempt of certain people, through the distortion
of facts or rumours, either to create the perception that the President of
the Republic is involved in acts of corruption or to distort the extent of
the phenomenon, neither of which corresponds, in any way, to the real
dimension of the problem.
The rules of propaganda are
timeless, well known, and even more effective, especially in times when
society is being tested.
A phrase attributed to Goebbels
states: "The bigger the lie and the more it is repeated, the more
believable it becomes."
This phenomenon is escalating
today, with the rapid and uncontrolled spread of rumours, fake news and
mudslinging on social media.
Without mentioning other
examples, I will restrict myself to referring to the most recent phenomenon,
nowadays, of public opinion manipulation
We have all witnessed what
followed the election of the new President of the United States, when,
unfoundedly, the outgoing President claimed that the loss of the election was
due to electoral fraud on the part of the Democrats, something he repeated
every day, for weeks.
As a result, tens of millions
of American citizens, led by a portion of the media and with targeted and
repetitive messages on social media, despite the lack of documentation,
adopted the claim as true, culminating in what happened at the Capitol, which
global society witnessed.
Similar phenomena,
unfortunately, are recorded in our country.
Prompted by the existing
weaknesses and gaps of a program aimed at restarting the economy, at a time
when the country was facing the risk of bankruptcy, when unemployment reached
16%, when there were social groceries, they attributed to the Government the
responsibilities of corruption and criminal activities of the few, who abused
the program.
And this, despite the fact
that, with audio and video, society witnessed the people who exposed Cyprus
internationally and who certainly were not members of the Government or the
ruling party.
Deliberately and ignoring the
above realities, corruption was the uniting ground chosen by those aiming
either to serve party interests, or the decision that Anastasiades must be
removed, or those who disagree with the President's handling of the national
problem, even if their own positions on the Cyprus issue are conflicting, or
even some who, in good faith, have adopted what is being projected throughout
the day.
What causes sadness is the
magnification of a problem, the fact that it is being highlighted as the only
one the country faces, ignoring the threats of Turkey that jeopardise the
existence of Cypriot Hellenism, ignoring the pandemic and the problems that
have accumulated as a result, which threaten to bring to their knees businesses,
workers and vulnerable groups. They ignore everything.
The saddest part, however, is
that ignoring the above conditions, some people came to the point, under the
pretext of the so-called fight against corruption, of attempting to bring the
state to a paralysis and collapse, refusing to vote the budget, without
actually disagreeing with it in principle, activating and instrumentalising
to this end, unfortunately, an independent state official.
To what degree, I wonder, does
party or personal political survival outweigh the interest of the whole?
What I want is to restore the
citizens’ perception of the real image and the problems that were created
during the implementation of the Investment Program.
A program which all political
leadership had adopted since 2007 and, until its abolition, had never
challenged.
At the same time, I do not
ignore the existence of gaps and weaknesses in the program, especially in
terms of monitoring and control mechanisms. Not only did we not ignore this
fact, as a Government, but it led us to amend the program a total of six
times over a period of seven years.
Nevertheless, despite all the
strictures, the amendments, the abuse or criminal acts were not prevented by
a portion of the perpetrators.
I readily acknowledge and assume
the political responsibilities of the Government.
What I want to emphasize with
the above is our political determination and will to immediately investigate
all cases and take drastic measures to punish those who acted fraudulently,
but also to restore the credibility of the country.
Let me remind you that after
the first press reports, the Council of Ministers appointed a Committee,
under Ms. Demetra Kalogerou, whose investigation led to the identification of
weaknesses, possible criminal offenses or other responsibilities by specific
persons, who are currently being investigated for their actions.
I also point out that
immediately after the revelation of the events that took place in the house
of a member of Parliament, the following decisions were taken:
a) Immediate termination of the
Investment Program,
b) Appointment of an
Independent Examination Committee for Deprivation of Citizenship,
c) The Attorney General was
requested to appoint an Investigative Committee, which, under the former
President of the Supreme Court, Mr Myron Nicolatos, is already proceeding
with transparency and public meetings, to a full investigation of the entire
Investment Program.
Related to the above
appointment was the intervention, in early September, by the European Commissioner
for Justice, who said that he expected from the Republic of Cyprus, the
appointment of an Investigative Committee with expanded and quasi-judicial
powers.
My references are not
incidental, because, as I have mentioned above, through the systematic distortion
of facts, there is, on a daily basis, an attempt to create the impression
that the Government denies or is, allegedly, afraid of control by the Auditor
General.
The answer to those who have
adopted lies as a means of political survival, is given by the Auditor
General himself in his written texts.
I quote verbatim what is
mentioned in the announcement issued on 4/11/20 after his meeting with the
Attorney General:
“…provided that the Government
is bound by the opinions of the Attorney General, the Auditor General
recognizes and realizes that, as a matter of fact, despite his disagreement,
at this stage no other files will be handed over to him and there is no
question of appealing to Court”.
Meanwhile, in his report to the
Chairwoman of the Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee of the House of
Representatives, dated 13/11/20, in support of the Budget of the Audit
Service, he mentions that:
“…since the final position of
the Government is (now) that we have jurisdiction to audit the naturalization
program, thus there is no question of disputing jurisdiction and
consequently, no such dispute exists for making a referral to the Supreme
Court”.
Let me reiterate that these
written references were made on 4 and 13 of November, namely, long before the
Budget was voted against.
Meanwhile, in my letter to the
President of DIKO, on 21 December 2020, after having cited the aforementioned
statements by the Auditor General, I underlined that: “it is clear that the
Government neither denied nor denies the handing over of the files. What it
has done and is doing, is to give due respect to the opinions of the Attorney
General, as the Auditor General himself acknowledges”.
I repeat this in order to make
it absolutely clear: The Government has not raised and is not raising any
objection with regard to the Auditor General receiving the naturalization
files immediately after the completion of the work of the Committee of
Inquiry, in order for him to carry out the audits in accordance with his
constitutional responsibilities.
Following the above, I wonder
how many more monstrous lies will be perpetrated by those who have endangered
the collapse of the state or the physical or financial survival of thousands
of our fellow citizens.
The worst part of the same
methodology is also the attempt to question the morals, status and integrity
of the four personalities who comprise the Committee of Inquiry appointed by
the Attorney General.
This attempt is completely
identical with the ‘instrumentalization’ of an independent official, with the
aim of promoting him as the sole honorable and trustworthy person to carry
out audits, while they are aware that the competences of the Auditor General,
deriving from the Constitution, are limited, as the former Attorney General
Mr. Costas Clerides explicitly mentions in his statement on 10 December.
I honestly wonder who can
really challenge at this point the targeted campaign of distortion and
manipulation of public opinion, which was and is intended to make the
citizens believe that the President and his Government are supposedly afraid
of an audit because they are allegedly corrupt.
And my reference to this is not
random, since we have reached such a low point whereby a journalist who
admits to having no evidence, claims publicly, based on rumours, that the
President of the Republic allegedly transferred out of Cyprus hundreds of
millions of profit money from the Investment Program and for this reason,
while not contributing to the solution of the Cyprus problem, as he claims,
we lost Ammochostos and Morfou. I honestly wonder how I could characterize
this phenomenon.
What is equally unacceptable is
the fact that instead of apologizing for the insult he uttered, since all the
sources he had cited refuted him, he had the audacity to call on me to prove
that his claims are not malicious lies and mudslinging.
At the same time, some others
unashamedly claim that the Investment Program was adopted for the sake of the
law firm that bears my name or that of my family members. When do they make
such claim? While ignoring the benefits enjoyed by hundreds of
businesses, thousands of employees, hundreds of lawyers, auditors and other
related professionals of whom only a small minority abused and exploited the
loopholes and weaknesses of the program.
While also ignoring the fact
that some of those who utter similar insults, were among those who benefited
from the program.
I will repeat that I do not
relinquish any political responsibilities the Government bears vis-à-vis the
supervision and audit of the program.
However, it should not be
overlooked that the current critics were not only aware of the provisions of
the exceptional naturalization programs, but were also fully informed as to
both the respective decisions and the details of the investors who acquired
the Cypriot citizenship since the adoption of the program in 2007.
What is equally important is
that the institutional check of the correctness of the decisions of the
executive power, constitutionally lies with the House of Representatives,
while the fiscal control lies with the Audit Service.
If the parliamentary parties,
which appear today as protagonists in the combat against corruption,
exercised their constitutional powers and obligations over time, then:
Firstly, they would have
adopted on time the legislation bills that have been pending before them for
years, aimed at combatting corruption.
Secondly, they would have
adopted GRECO's recommendations concerning the legislature on issues of
transparency and the fight against corruption.
Thirdly, they would not have
supported a program that they now claim was created for corruption purposes,
but instead they should have called for its abolition.
Fourthly, they would have
exercised their institutional oversight role as they should, based on the
information provided to them on a continuous basis.
The claim that the data was
allegedly not sufficient for audit is refuted by the fact that the
investigation of the international television network was based on documents
bearing the seal of the House of Representatives.
Fifthly, the registration of
ten issues for discussion at the House of Representatives, after the
abolition of the program, is clearly due to the attempt to disorient public
opinion, after the revelation that among the protagonists of the scandal were
their own members.
I would like to be adamant and
totally firm in reiterating that corruption is a real phenomenon.
If the Government did not
recognize this, it would not have instituted a series of anti-corruption
measures, as well as other important ones to be announced tomorrow in order
to drastically address the phenomenon.
The determination of myself and
the Government to combat corruption is also recorded by the large number of
prosecutions of state officials and others, who were involved in corruption
offenses.
A comparison of the number of
those convicted during my administration to those convicted since the
establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, would be enough to convince of what
I am saying.
However, as I have already
mentioned, the perception of the scale of corruption and the real dimensions
of the phenomenon are different, as reflected in the reports of European and
international supervisory bodies.
For example:
Firstly, the European
Commission's latest report on the rule of law, issued in October 2020,
specifically states '... that for the first time 37 persons have been
convicted in 26 cases", noting that there is "an improvement in
anti-corruption indicators" compared to the past.
Secondly, Moneyvall positively
assessed the real progress our country has made in the combat against money
laundering at all levels.
For example, in the technical
part of the report, the Republic of Cyprus is graded with full compliance or
high compliance in all forty controlled parameters.
Thirdly, GRECO, in the fourth
round of the evaluation of Cyprus, notes that none of the recommendations
pending until the adoption of the report concern the executive.
Fourthly, I should note that in
April 2019 the US Undersecretary of the Treasury and one of the political
heads of the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) visited Cyprus
and said in a statement that "Cyprus has made enormous progress and
improvements in the legal framework as well as in law enforcement".
Fifthly, in August of the same
year a delegation from the United States Congress, headed by the Chairman of
the Financial Services Committee, visited our country, and stated that our
country had made progress and presented an improved legal and regulatory
framework against money laundering, stating in conclusion that: "...
Cyprus is now in a position to meet the challenges in preventing money
laundering."
I ask for your understanding
because I have been forced to talk extensively about the real dimensions of
corruption as well as about the extent of deliberate distortion, mudslinging
through the spread of rumours or due to party interests.
It is well known that in my
long-standing political presence, even the harshest of my critics acknowledge
that I have never renounced any bona fide or even perfidious criticism for
any positions I have adopted or for any mistakes and omissions.
It is well-known to politician
friends and opponents that any momentary bitterness has never been the reason
not to have relations with those that I have disagreed or came into conflict
with.
This is a rule which I believe
you either accept or do not accept and thus do not participate in politics.
What I, as a person and not as
a politician cannot accept is the regular and organized effort, through lies
and rumours, to damage my ethos, my reputation and my dignity.
Compatriots,
I have been, perhaps sharp in
my references. However, for months I have tolerated and went through an
unprecedented effort of defamation, with degrading insinuations, insults, and
unethical allegations which exceed the limits of political decorum and
ethics.
I have tolerated and endured
this, because I know well that your demand of any President of the Republic
is that he uses his time, not in debates about mutual accusations, but to effectively
confront the serious problems of his country, at moments of crisis, with his
courage and decisions.
It is for this reason that I
overcome personal feelings of bitterness, which naturally arise. That is why
I emphatically declare that I shall not refer to this chapter again until the
Investigative Committee completes the work it was assigned.
The measures to be announced
tomorrow consist of the greatest intervention ever made in the Republic of
Cyprus so that we can create the strongest possible anti-corruption safety
net.
I call upon all of you, with
full respect to the different views, in an atmosphere of constructive
political juxtaposition, to jointly address the issue of corruption as well
as the other critical issues our people are facing.
I want to believe that what
will prevail is patriotism, which I accredit to all political parties without
exception.
This is what citizens expect
from our political system and towards this direction I shall continue to
work, so that once again I will respond to your expectations.
Thank you.
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(MK/ΕΚ/MPO/EH)
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