We’ve said countless times that there’s no point dwelling on Nicos Anastasiades, the worst President in the history of the Republic of Cyprus. History has already consigned him to the bottom of the pile.
His greatest “achievement” – bringing worldwide shame to our country through the notorious golden passports scandal – will haunt us for years to come.
Yet how can one endure his continued provocations? The announcement that his book “The Slanderer” is on its way makes our blood boil.
A journalist, whom Anastasiades had appointed as his closest aide, wrote a book thoroughly criticising him. And now this former President has sat down to write a book in response.
A simple comparison tells you everything you need to know: Anastasiades’s predecessor as DISY leader and fellow 10-year President, Glafcos Clerides, wrote his memoirs (in volumes) titled “My Testimony”.
Anastasiades writes a book called “The Slanderer”!
Predictably, he won’t mention the mega-scandal that brought Cyprus into global disrepute. Nor will he discuss his extravagant trips to the Seychelles on his Saudi Arabian friend’s private jet – the same friend who later acquired numerous Cypriot passports for his family members.
The book will surely omit any mention of his Cabinet’s involvement in the infamous scandal.
This is the same man who had the audacity to ask in an interview: “Tell me, what crime will I be prosecuted for?” And with equal brazenness continued: “Will I be prosecuted because some people abused the legislation and allowed a number of ineligible individuals to be naturalised? Since when is a head of state prosecuted for citizens’ illegal actions? Or will I be tried because my former law firm submitted fewer than 60 applications out of thousands of naturalisations?”.
Let’s recall the most glaring finding in the Nicolatos report. It concerns the conflict of interest of the President and ministers in making decisions involving their family businesses or other connected enterprises.
The report emphasises that the Cabinet failed to follow the Code of Ethics, which required them to declare any direct or indirect interest in matters they were deciding upon.
Special mention is made of the President himself, under whose presidency 50 investor naturalisations were approved – applications handled by the law firm in which his daughters own a 50% stake.
How do you explain to this man that in any other country, this alone would be enough to put him on trial?
Undoubtedly, his advertised book won’t mention how he appointed two of his ministers to lead the Law Office, spreading endless suspicion and short-circuiting one of the most important institutions for years.
He certainly won’t explain to “The Slanderer” how his administration laid the groundwork for Odysseas Michaelides’s removal from the Audit Office, dealing a crucial blow to the fight against corruption.
Nicos Anastasiades should know one thing: the people know the real truth.
And this truth won’t change regardless of the outcome of the investigation into Drousiotis’s book (which I bet will exonerate you), nor will it change with any book you write.
The people know that your administration is responsible for bringing shame to our country. This is the worst crime of all, forever cementing your place at the bottom.
I don’t know if or how much of what’s written in “Mafia State” is accurate. Nor do I know if anything that will be mentioned in “The Slanderer” might be accurate.
But what I know with absolute certainty is that the only book still missing – and the one that would tell nothing but the truth – would be titled: “Crime Without Punishment”!
