2 weeks Ago
KYPROULLA will not contribute any troops to a European task force that would maintain the peace in Ukraine in the very unlikely event that Russia agreed to a ceasefire deal, deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou assured both the state broadcaster and news agency from Paris on Friday morning.That he was asked such a resoundingly stupid question was the fault of his boss, who a day earlier at the conference of the ‘coalition of the willing’ in Paris expressed Kyproulla’s readiness to be represented in any formation created to ensure conditions of peace and security in Ukraine.Prezniktwo had got carried away, sitting with the big boys in Paris, never denying that Kyproulla’s troops would take part in the multi-national force, when asked by journos.
In fact, at the previous meeting that dealt with the operational level the National Guard chief said that “we were ready to contribute to this effort,” said the Prez.Although the National Guard does not have enough soldiers to guard the dividing line at home, it would still send troops to Ukraine if and when the peace force was set up, said the Prez, thus prompting the denial by his spokesman the next day.“Of course, under no circumstances, does the Cyprus Republic intend to provide troops,” said the government grown-up.
ONLY AKEL, which has lacked a sense of humour, took the presidential grandstanding seriously, issuing a statement asking “Is Mr Christodoulides prepared to send Cypriot soldiers to Ukraine?” and demanding that he “gives an answer to the Cypriot people.”The real concern of the commies was that Kyproulla would side with the evil Europeans against virtuous Mother Russia in Ukraine. “Akel repeats that the insistence of the EU on the strategy of arming Zelenskiy until the ‘crushing of Russia’ and the turn to a ‘war economy’ are dead-end choices dangerous for all the people of the continent,” the party said.
Without mentioning names, it gave its unqualified support to Donald Trump’s peace initiative, for once siding with the evil US, trying to broker a peace deal. “Only the undertaking of peace initiatives and the return to diplomacy would offer a solution that would ensure a just and permanent peace,” said the Trump-supporting commies.Antoniou reassured Akel that his boss had got it wrong and Nicosia’s contribution “could be at an administrative-supportive level, for humanitarian missions, with the participation of officers of the National Guard or the police.
”Hunters showing how to get the job doneTHE SENSITIVE policing of the hunters’ highway protest last Sunday turned out to be an unmitigated disaster, pissing off thousands of people who decided to go an excursion but ended up spending a couple of hours sat in a car enjoying a traffic jam.And they dispersed only after Prezniktwo had a telephone conversation with the hunters’ leader and promised to see him at the presidential palace the next morning to discuss the demands that caused the protest. The Prez tried to salvage a little pride and quash suggestions that he gave in to blackmail by not attending the meeting after all, assigning this thankless task to the interior minister.
The protest, which featured a couple of thousand rough-looking characters, many in camouflage outfits, blocking all lanes of the highway, was organised by the Movement of United Cypriot Hunters (Kekk). It was opposed by the other hunters’ group, the Cyprus Federation of Hunting and Administration of Wildlife (Kok & Daz), which has a much better acronym.Police said that they had given the go-ahead to Kekk’s highway closure on the understanding that it would last a few minutes.
After the public outcry, the police chief ordered the obligatory investigation, to make the police look even more incompetent.NONE of the big parties dared to take a public stand against the hunters because they represent thousands of votes. Only Volt and the Greens condemned the hairy hunters, while Disy’s Nicos Tornaritis was the only deputy that publicly expressed his disapproval – he is probably not standing for re-election next year.
I do not know if Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos noticed what happened last Sunday because it could solve a problem he is facing. A couple of weeks ago, Prountzos complained that since his election he had not once met Prezniktwo. He had made several requests for a meeting, but the Prez simply refuses to see him.
Prountzos now knows how to secure the audience he has been seeking for 10 months. Take the members of the municipal council, all Nicosia municipal employees and some asylum seekers to bulk out the protest and block the Nicosia-Limassol highway next Sunday. After a couple of hours, the Prez will call and arrange to meet him the next day.
THE GOVERNMENT has come under a lot of stick for transferring five National Guard contract privates (aka Syop) to the secret service Kyp in violation of the privates’ terms of employment – for the operational needs of the National Guard.This stank of presidential palace rusfeti because if Kyp needed staff there are thousands of public employees, not to mention cops, it could have recruited and despite their limitations, would have been much more capable than Syops. Young people who apply for jobs as privates are just the next level up from unemployable, lacking in skills, ambition, drive and intelligence.
They could only have secured a transfer to Kyp through rusfeti ordered from the very top. There is no other way they would have been ordered to take their very limited skill set to Kyp.RUSFETI on an industrial scale may be the formula by which the Prez hopes to secure re-election.
It worked for the late Spy Kyp, who filled the public service with card-carrying, incompetent Dikheads in the eighties, and the current incumbent could also be relying on it.Last week the government went to the legislature with the bill for the unfreezing of some 900 civil service posts, while several thousand had unfrozen in the past. While these posts were frozen, thousands were hired on open-ended contracts to cover the needs of the public service.
According to CyStat, there are now 9,500 public employees on open-ended contracts, who are like permanent staff but with fewer benefits.The public payroll plus pensions and bonuses for public parasites took up 35 per cent of total state expenditure in 2023 (€3.2bn) and was the highest percentage in Europe.
This year the public payroll will exceed €4bn even before government hires another 900 public parasites.We should not worry because as the Prez said on Saturday in Larnaca, it was the “responsible economic policy that allowed the government to spend €700m to help households and businesses deal with high prices.”Akelites protesting about the waste of government moneyAKEL organised a march on Saturday to protest about high prices and the increasing number of people (30 per cent) who cannot make ends meet with their monthly income.
Are we to conclude from this that €700m spent by the government was a waste of the taxpayer’s money?The economic hardship that so many people are experiencing is probably the main reason why the Prez’ popularity has tanked. It is down to 24 per cent according to an opinion poll published last week, significantly lower than House president Annita Demetriou’s popularity, 36 per cent. People have no appreciation for the upgraded international role of the Republic that the Prez has ensured by his foreign travel.
By far the most popular character in Kyproulla is Odysseas (59 per cent) but this might because he is not a politician and he does not spend half his time travelling the world in his private jet pretending he is an international statesman.WE ARE happy to inform our customers that they can use the Nicosia-Limassol-Nicosia highway today without fear of encountering a protest. As a public service, we have checked with the police and have been informed that no group has been given permission by the force to stage a two-minute protest closing it.
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