In the background of the UN Secretary General’s envoy on Cyprus Mrs. Lute’s presence in Cyprus and the developments taking place on the Cyprus problem, AKEL has deliberately decided not to issue any statements on the well-known subject of the accusations made by the International Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, which involve the law firm bearing The name of President Anastasiades.
AKEL, however, cannot be silent in the face of the slanderous attack launched by the President of the Republic in an interview broadcast today on “Alpha TV”.

Mr. Anastasiades attacked AKEL accusing it of a lack of political morality, of malice and hatred towards him. Mr. Anastasiades is the last person to be talking about political ethics, malice and hatred. His entire political life is full of attacks, malice and hatred against political parties and opponents. Mr. Anastasiades has gone down in history as the only politician who denounced the President of the Republic of Cyprus in Europe, and indeed he did so at an extremely crucial moment for Cyprus.
In his interview, Mr. Anastasiades reiterated that some people in Cyprus have co-written what is attributed to him by the International Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Mr. Anastasiades is the President of the Republic and he can’t be avoiding the issue. He has to name the person or those within Cyprus who, he claims, are trying to harm him and Cyprus.

As long as Mr. Anastasiades does not reply convincingly to the press and simply accuses others, the damage to Cyprus remains and continues. We recall that during the period of Anastasiades’ administration, Cyprus has slipped in international indicators table in relation to interwoven interests and corruption, and the accusations that have been made against our country of interwoven interests and corruption in reports by the OECD, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the World Bank have increased.
Mr. Anastasiades has to reply convincingly to those who are raising the issue internationally. The communication management (of the issue) for internal consumption purposes does not protect Cyprus from vilification.