Disy – EVROKO planning political coup

AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou charged that DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades and other opposition parties were attempting to stage a political coup to make way for Anastassiades to win the presidency.

President Christofias has been under serious pressure since Monday when the investigator into the Mari blast, Polys Polyviou, apportioned him the lion’s share of the blame for the Evangelos Florakis naval base explosion in which 13 people died on July 11. The munitions which exploded had been seized from a Cyprus-flagged ship on its way to Syria over two years ago.

The police file containing the findings into a parallel criminal investigation that reportedly names ten people who could face prosecution, was also handed over to the Attorney-general on Tuesday.

President Christofias said he recognised the responsibility stemming from his position as the leader of the state, but reiterated that he has no personal responsibility for the blast, coupled with the insistence that he would remain in his post, despite numerous calls for his resignation. 

The president said the findings were unsubstantiated while Polyviou, had exceeded his mandate.

Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said, “As it is known we do not recognise neither we accept that the president has personal responsibility.”

He added that Polyviou went beyond his mandate by criticising the government’s foreign and diplomatic policy. “Mr. Polyviou had no mandate to judge the government’s diplomatic and political handling and pass comment regarding what president told or didn’t tell (Syrian President Bashar al-) Assad,” Stefanou said.

Christofias has assured Assad that he would not hand over the cargo to any other country apart from Syria or Iran. The president said that the assurance was a diplomatic manoeuvre – a position that Polyviou said was inappropriate because it trapped Christofias and Cyprus.

Polyviou had also suggested that since Cyprus was a member of the EU, it should now abandon the policy of keeping a balance. “Are these within his mandate? Of course not,” Stefanou said.

But Anastassiades warned on Tuesday that if Christofias insisted on staying in power, DISY would assume initiatives in consultation with other opposition parties to find “parliamentary and institutional” ways of “protecting the interests of the Cypriot people.”

His views were shared by EVROKO chairman Demetris Syllouris who said opposition parties should get together to discuss the “political crisis caused by Mr. Christofias’ refusal to accept the findings of the man he had appointed and assume his responsibility,” something which AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou described as tantamount to a political coup.

 “No matter how elegantly the matter is set … it is clear they are planning a political coup,” Kyprianou said.

“During difficult and critical conditions for the country, the objective is to form a powerful right-wing front to elect Nicos Anastassiades president.”

Kyprianou said the result would be the creation of political instability, worsening of the already ailing economy, and paralysis of the state.

“So the country is being sacrificed to elect Mr. Anastassiades president and then they say they out national interest above everything else,” Kyprianou said. 

Kyprianou said it was not the first time in history that a president governs with the support of just one party, adding that Glafcos Clerides spent a lot of his second term – 1998-2003 – without the support of any other party apart from DISY.

Invited to comment on criticisms from political parties, President Christofias said that “I don’t want to say anything more than what I said last night. Polyviou’s findings as well as the police report will be examined thoroughly. We remain calm and will wait until we look into the police report as well”.

Police Chief Michalis Papageorgiou on Tuesday handed over a sizeable report on its criminal investigation into the Mari blast to the Attorney-general.

The police report was delivered only a day after Polyviou released his 600-page plus report attributing the ultimate political and personal culpability for the events to Christofias and to a lesser extent respective former foreign and defence ministers Marcos Kyprianou and Costas Papacostas. It also noted that the Fire Service did not act when it should have done so, days prior to the explosion. However, a reading of the report raises questions about the involvement of the military, which Polyviou seems to absolve of any serious responsibility. It emerges, for instance, that the individual boxes offloaded from the Monchegorsk bore labels and markings, such as: “Explosives,” “Improvised Explosive Device” and “Dangerous Goods.” The boxes were identified during an inspection while they were still on board the Monchegorsk, before being placed in containers and trucked off to the Mari naval base. Present at the on-board inspection were members of the military and customs, among others.

Asked by reporters to comment on Polyviou’s remarks that undoubtedly serious criminal offences have been committed, Attorney General Petros Clerides said “I will study Mr. Polyviou’s report and I will see whether based on his report, there are grounds for the police to take additional evidence.”

However he underlined that the final decision for proceeding with charges for criminal offences lies with him and him alone, and he would be the one to choose whether to start criminal proceedings against individuals or not. He also did not give a timeframe as to when he will take his final decision.