Interview with Manolis Kalantzis and Costas Konstantinou
The President of the Republic, in the interview he gave to “P”, rejects the allegations of the opposition for the explosion of corruption in his days, however, admitting that there were violations and illegalities in the implementation of the KEP. He also states that if he knew how things would turn out he would avoid putting himself and his family members, who are now stigmatized, in a difficult position. Much of the interview was spent on the pandemic. The President makes a special reference to Morphou Neophytos. As he tells us, “There is a tendency on his part, if you will, and I say it very boldly to make him a hero. I do not want to turn cowards into heroes. “
If we wanted. We would intervene
Eight years after taking power and just looking at the climate on news sites and social media, one realizes that people do not have the best view of your presidency. The element of defense of your days is also missing. Especially in discussions about corruption.
If you look at how relentless the current government has been in the fight against corruption in the eight years, how many measures have been adopted and how many measures are pending in Parliament that would facilitate the investigation, the picture would certainly be completely different. In the past, did we have less corruption with the cover-up? Today I hear some people talking about the indicators of corruption. They do not study the reports of Moneyval, the European Commission on the rule of law, GRECO, etc. See all these suggestions and how many the government did not comply with or how many of the pending issues concern the government or the legislature.
Yes, but the European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Cyprus. For the investment program.
The investment program was an incentive program at a time when the economy was literally drying up. Piles of construction companies were unable to service their loans, banks were in need of liquidity. It was announced as a measure that could help the economy. An existing naturalization system that has been in place since 2007 has been substantially modified. Like any program, this one has been abused. On at least four occasions I had convened a meeting of land development companies, various providers and warned that they would eventually end the program, whether it was advertising abroad, or at the airport – if you remember having a passport desk – or with misleading advertisements that with 800,000 euros you secure a passport, etc. Unfortunately, there was a violation.
More about the issue in the printed version of “P” and for the subscribers of POLITIS PREMIUM the digital version of the newspaper in PDF at the same time with its printed circulation daily from 05.00 in the morning.
