When the new Franco-Cypriot School opened in Aglandjia, Nicosia in September, President Demetris Christofias hailed it as “an investment in education” and “a great investment in French Cypriot relations”.

I went to meet the director, Pascale Lagleize, to see what the new school has to offer and how this collaboration between the Cyprus and French governments is working in practice.

For more than four years, Lagleize was the head of the Arthur Rimbaud School, in the old city, which went on to form the basis of the Franco-Cypriot school. It was one of a large network of about 450 French schools worldwide, supported by the French ministry of education and the ministry of foreign affairs. She is employed directly by the French government and therefore can move around at regular intervals. She will be leaving to take up a new post at the end of this academic year though she is not yet sure where she will be going next. While clearly sad to be leaving on one level, she is pleased to have had the opportunity to see this joint venture for a new school through to fruition. And even at this stage in her career, with grown up daughters of her own, she is not afraid of a new challenge. She believes that “change is a good thing,” and that with change comes “new energies and new ideas”. 

So what has changed? What is different about the new school? 

Lagleize explains that it is still part of the worldwide network of French schools, but now it is also recognised and supported by the Cyprus government. In the past it was mainly populated by French families. Now it offers the option of a bilingual stream, in French and Greek, and is much more multicultural. 

Lagleize points out that French schools in France are multicultural, so too are French schools abroad, and although they follow a French curriculum, “they adapt to the local environment and culture”. In the new Franco-Cypriot school, between 35 and 40 per cent of the student population comes from French families, 30 per cent from Cypriot families, (including five Turkish Cypriot students), with 20 nationalities in total. 

In the playground, you hear many different languages spoken. According to the director, the children switch between languages easily and choose their language according to the context. 

“Often the teenagers communicate in English, as this is the language of much popular culture,” she says. 

The school has spacious new premises, the former Aglandjia Higher Technical Institute, donated and renovated by the Cyprus government. Buildings are bright and clean and airy. Situated next to Athalassa Park, this is an extra resource that the school uses for science lessons and some of their sport. They also have access to an indoor sports centre and a large playground with basketball courts. A good-sized piece of land next to the school is also being developed as another outdoor space. 

The school can hold up to 400 pupils from age two to 18. At the moment, there are 155 pupils, so for obvious reasons the school is keen to attract more pupils. Although it receives funding from the French government, (which pays part of the teachers’ salaries, funds regular training abroad in the region for all teachers and pays some scholarships for French pupils), it offers a full French curriculum, regardless of numbers. “In the senior years - the lycee - the school is obliged to offer all three main French Baccalaureate options: Scientific, Economic and Literature,” she says. 

And as the bilingual French-Greek stream grows, they also have plans to offer the Apolytirion. 

Lagleize is looking to build a multi-cultural community who can all benefit from the curriculum on offer, not just French speaking and Greek speaking families. She believes change is good. “But in terms of building a school community, you need stability to build an identity,” she says.

Lagleize is confident the school will attract international students to the school. “The opportunity to learn three of the main European languages is a major attraction,” she says.

Students will learn French, Greek and English, plus either Spanish or German, regardless of the stream they choose. (The hours spent studying in each language changes depending on the stream chosen). And as French speakers, they can all benefit from the opportunity to attend any number of the French universities, which are free, or virtually free. With the French Baccalaureate, students can also be admitted to UK universities. 

To ensure linguistic fluency, the school deals with the primary and secondary schools differently. There are two classes in the primary part of the school. In the secondary school, (gymnasium 11-14 and lycee 15-18), all students are taught together. This is a deliberate choice to integrate students. Lagleize believes that even as the school grows it benefits all pupils as they “learn better together”.

There are already French families that choose the bilingual stream, Cypriot students who choose the French stream and students from elsewhere who might choose either. Core subjects like French and maths, history and geography are common to both streams. These subjects follow the French curriculum, while science is taught in Greek but following the French curriculum. Even the Greek language course is a copy of the French language course, which “helps to reinforce the language learning better”. 

A key question is how well students who speak neither French nor Greek can fit into the system. Lagleize says they fit in very well. 

“If they join at the primary school level, they adapt quickly,” she says. It is obviously more difficult the older they get, yet the director described one girl who joined the school aged 14 with no French or Greek and managed to pass the Diplome National Du Brevet, taken at the end of the gymnasium. 

“It is not a problem of language, it is a problem of level,” she says.

Good students in one language will be good students in a new language. In her experience, children need one to two years to become fluent in a new language. 

So, up to what age is it realistic for students to join? She will not accept new students into the lycee if their language skills are not good enough. Potential new students are assessed in maths and their own language. And in the older age group, it very much depends on how committed the students themselves are, rather than the parents. 

“It has to be their choice at this age,” she says.

The school provides in-class language support with two French teachers available in the language classes. One is there to adapt the teaching materials to support non-native speakers in the class. There is also extra in-class support in the primary school and free homework support for students between 1pm and 2pm. This may be for those whose parents do not speak French at home. But the help is directed where needed and for whatever subject it is most appropriate. 

Lagleize believes that students should get all the help they need in school; extra lessons after school do not benefit anyone. “If parents think they are helping their children by paying for this, they are not,” she says. “Children need to learn autonomy - how to learn on their own.” 

Compared to other fee-paying schools in Cyprus, the fees are competitively priced. The kindergarten is €2,900 per year, the primary is €4,200, the gymnasium is €4,600 and the lycee is €5,400.

When the original Arthur Rimbauld school changed in September, some parents pulled their children out because they were wary of the role the Cyprus ministry of education might play. Lagleize says their fears were unfounded. The school is inspected every year by French inspectors who come from France. Students take French national evaluations twice in the primary school, which are sent back to France to be marked. And all teachers are employed by the school, even the Greek teachers. The Cyprus ministry of education, she says, has been helpful and offers support, but “it is the director’s job to hire and manage staff”. 

Whilst the school board includes two Cyprus government representatives, two French government representatives and parents, the board does not strictly speaking run the school. The board manages all financial issues but the director manages all pedagogical issues. So there is a clear separation of responsibilities.

While the teachers are accountable to the director, not the board, Lagleize makes clear that she values good working relationships with parents. 

“In France, parents want their children to do well, but they do not get involved,” she says. Regular communication with parents is important for students to do well and the school holds class meetings with parents, four times a year. Individual meetings also happen whenever parents request it. On the school website parents can see what their children have been doing in class each day and what marks they receive. This gives parents a daily point of engagement with their children and “makes it easier, for younger children especially, to talk to their parents about what they are doing in school”. 

I met some parents drinking coffee outside the primary school cafeteria, who seemed very relaxed and happy with the school. 

“We feel that it is a huge opportunity for our children - who speak English at home - to learn French properly, to study in a very relevant and useful language,” one parent said. “Being a small school, which is essentially parent-run, the school has a very positive vibe. It has also attracted a number of young, progressive and very energetic teachers. We are very happy.”

Contact Information: 

School Secretary: Ms Philippou 22665318

Email: secretariat@efcn.info (in French, Greek or English)

Website: http://www.efcn.info

In the primary school, the children are divided into streams based on language

Pascale Lagleize, director of the Franco-Cypriot School, attended by children of 20 nationalities

AT THE age of 71, and more than 50 years after the event, Petrou Panagi Stylianou still cries whenever she talks about her father’s brutal murder by masked men beating him with bats embedded with nails.

Her father, Panayiotis Stylianou, died as a “traitor” during the EOKA insurgency against British rule; his reputation only restored by Cabinet this week in a landmark decision setting the record straight on the wrongful deaths of 19 people during the years 1955-59.

They were murdered on the pretext of being traitors to the EOKA movement, though their only crime was being members of left-wing AKEL.

Extreme right wing elements of EOKA led by anti-communist general Georgios Grivas “executed” these people, and have been accused of sometimes brutally killing them without providing evidence they were indeed traitors.

The Cabinet decision follows through on an electoral promise by incumbent AKEL President Demetris Christofias who is not running for re-election this February. Following the decision, opposition parties DISY and EDEK accused the government of intervening with history and selecting names on political criteria. 

But the relatives say the decision finally exonerates the dead.

Petrou was just 17 when her father hurriedly handed her over his granddaughter - her seven-month-old baby - and got beaten to death. Her mother was also beaten within an inch of her life. 

“It was the biggest crime done to a poor, innocent family-man. Just 38 years old and working from the crack of dawn all day long to put food in our mouths,” said Petrou in tears. 

Her father, Panayiotis, did any odd job around the village - Acheritou in Famagusta - to make ends meet. He would make brooms and get on his bike to sell them in Varosha, dig holes and break down stones for people’s homes. When he was killed in 1958, he had just managed to get some sheep and had become a shepherd, said Petrou’s husband, Dimitris, who was only 20 at the time. 

“All this has steeped deep in our souls,” Petrou said. She and one of her five siblings, a five-year-old boy at the time, watched the brutal killing. 

Her father had come to a relative’s home to fetch her after getting chased from the village coffee shop. “Then at the [house’s] fence, seven [masked] people appeared carrying bats and there were as many others nearby. My dad gave me the baby and they swung the bats and hit his forehead.” They continued beating “even when he fell down, they hit him on his neck,” she said. 

“I ran out to scream but I had no voice,” she said.

“I didn’t even know where my baby was, I had thrown her on the bed and I didn’t think about her,” Petrou said. She broke down as she described her father’s last moments prompting her husband Dimitris to take the phone away from her and continue the story. 

“We lived through very hard times at our very bloom. My wife is traumatised, just think how many years we have been going through this,” he told the Sunday Mail.

The bats had spikes six inches long, he said. Two inches stuck out and the aggressors had to try to get the bats out of his head each time. “We found pieces of him… It was a cannibalistic death and sadly for my wife she saw it all. 

“These people who restored his reputation, they are saints to me,” he added.  

An association for the relatives of those killed for political reasons between 1955 and 1959 was set up in 1995, although AKEL had officially called on Grivas twice in 1958 to set up an independent committee to determine who actually was a traitor, said association member and journalist, Michalis Michael.

Over the years, Michael has interviewed relatives and gathered facts in relation to these “politically motivated deaths”. 

It is no accident that most of the deaths took place in Famagusta, a traditional stronghold for AKEL, Michael said.

During these dark times of Cyprus’ history, “hundreds were killed either for political reasons, for treason - not to say they weren’t any traitors - or because of personal rivalries,” said sociologist Gregoris Ioannou. For example, Turkish Cypriots belonging to the left were killed by TMT, the Turkish Cypriot paramilitary organisation set up in late fifties to counter EOKA. And there are even missing EOKA fighters from the fifties “who just disappeared”, Michael said.

During the inter-communal fighting of the sixties, shortly after the birth of the republic, and then in the aftermath of the 1974 invasion, the time was not right to pursue the matter, despite individual efforts from relatives, Michael said. 

Efforts resumed in earnest in the nineties on the level of political lobbying, but there was resistance from the EOKA fighters’ association and then later from the Tassos Papadopoulos government. 

“The EOKA fighters said they would not vindicate traitors and so it went until Christofias promised he would look into it,” Michael said.

For Koulla, the daughter of Andreas Michaelides who was shot in the back of the head on November 18, 1956 in Kato Pyrgos, when she was just five years of age, the Cabinet decision is a “relief”. 

“It’s what we wanted. We didn’t want revenge,” Koulla told the Sunday Mail this week. 

“I have nothing against EOKA… [But] EOKA should have done their homework before killing innocent people.” 

Andreas, 32, a relatively affluent tailor, was left-wing but supported EOKA and would send food to guerrilla fighters in Paphos who had even sent word out that he was not to be touched. 

“It is clear now that my father was killed because of [another man’s personal] jealousy,” Koulla said. Her mother, Ioanna, just 27 at the time, was convinced this man’s grudge was behind her husband’s death and she cursed the man who authorised the “execution”. 

“If it was your fault, my Andreas, then it serves us right. But if it weren’t your fault, then may the one who’s to blame not see 40 days after you.” 

That man died 26 days later, Koulla said. 

The whole family was terrorised after Andreas’ death and they eventually moved to London to start again. Mother and daughter have recently returned to their village in Cyprus, following the death of Koulla’s husband. 

“My mother has been waiting for this day for 50-odd years,” Koulla said. 

Others might have considered themselves lucky to have been killed by a shot to the back of their head.

Savvas Menikos from Goufes died a horrific death after having been tied to a eucalyptus tree in the village church courtyard on May 23, 1958. Primary school children stoned him in the presence of the priest, according to information gathered by Michael. Eventually, they untied him, placed a stone on him so he could not breathe, kicked dirt into his mouth and urinated in it while kicking.

Despite everything, Michael said the relatives did not want anything more than an apology.

“We know who did what. But we don’t come out saying them,” he added. 

The government has also said they do not intend to prosecute anyone.

“These families are satisfied with being vindicated. They want no money, no prosecution, no revenge. It shows great humanity after all this,” Michael said.

“The village knew he was no traitor but still, living with the taint of being a traitor, it’s good that strangers will know,” said Dimitris, the husband of Petrou who is doomed never to forget what happened some 54 years ago.

The nineteen are: Neophytos Cleanthous from Mesogi, killed in October 13, 1956; Andreas Michaelides from Kato Pyrgos, October 18, 1956; Michalis Mikrasiatis from Frenaros, December 10, 1956; Christodoulos Ornitharis from Frenaros, December 10, 1956; Costas Sfiggos from Xylotympou, November 11, 1956; Panayiotis Tsaros from Ashia, November 26, 1957; Georgios Polytechnis from Lefkoniko, 1957 (no exact date given); Michalis Petrou from Lysi, January 21, 1958; Elias Ttofaris from Koma tou Gialou, January 21, 1958; Kyriacos Patatas from Pigi, May 6, 1958; Savvas Menikos from Goufes, May 23, 1958; Andreas Sakkas from Pera Orinis, May 25, 1958; Demetris Matsoukos from Gypsou, May 23, 1958; Panayiotis Stylianou from Acheritou, May 29, 1958; Nicodemos Ioannou from Ayios Theodoros Agrou, June 18, 1958; Savvas Thouppos from Tympou, August 9, 1958; Maria Charitou from Milia Famagusta, August 26, 1958; Despoula Katsouri from Milia Famagusta, August 26, 1958;aAnd Pieris Pistolas from Lefkoniko, December 1958.

Petrou Stylianou has never got over the sight of seeing her father being beaten to death

THE TRIAL date for a 40-year-old father from Ayia Napa facing charges of rape, incest and indecent assault of his three children has been set for February 6 in Larnaca by the criminal court.
The court ordered the accused to be released on €50,000 bail under certain conditions to ensure he turns up in court on the trial date.

POLICE ARE looking for four people in connection with a jewellery robbery that took place on December 6 in the Nicosia district.
The jewellery owner reported to police yesterday that three women and one man had stolen €6,000 worth of gold and white gold chains from the shop while the owner was serving other customers. 
Pictures of the four suspects leaving the shop were captured on CCTV footage at around 6.30pm on December 6 and given to police yesterday.

A WOMAN was mugged as she parked her car outside her house on Friday night in Orounta village in the Nicosia district, with the robber making off with her handbag and all its contents.
According to the woman, at around 8.15pm after parking her car outside her house, a man attacked her, stealing her bag that was placed on the co-driver’s seat and running off.
The bag contained €2,000, a mobile phone, a cheque book and credit cards.
Peristerona police are examining the case.

THE COMPANY handling card transactions on the island, JCC Payment Systems, yesterday warned businesses of a group of scammers stealing personal data from clients by pretending to be JCC employees.
According to a company announcement, confidence tricksters dressed in clothing showing the JCC label are visiting offices and shops that have JCC card machines (Point of Sale devices).
The scam artists usually carry with them their own POS machine and ask the JCC client if they could use the client’s bank card to carry out some tests on their own POS device. They also tell the client that the card machine of the business or office visited is faulty and needs fixing.
JCC warns that the point of the scam is probably to take people’s personal data from their cards. The card company called on all its customers to be extra vigilant when checking the identification of people claiming to work for the company and to contact JCC on 22868150 or the police if they suspect anything dodgy. It also called on people never to give their cards to anyone in such circumstances.

A FULLTIME Santa’s grotto has been set up for the first time in Paphos and is welcoming children of all nationalities until January.
The grotto, at the Paphos Mall, is a multi-lingual affair, with an English-speaking Santa with some Greek aided by his multi-lingual Elf, Roman.
Talk of the Town events -TOTT - organised the grotto which Matthew Edmondson, aka Santa Claus, says is the first of a kind for Paphos.
“Although there are usually a number of Santas in Paphos every year, this is the first time a permanent grotto has been set up.”
Edmonson pointed out that although it’s not unusual to see Santa making an appearance for a few hours a day outside a supermarket or a business at Christmas time; the grotto is completely different.
“On a number of previous occasions when I have portrayed Santa, I have been supplied only with a banner and a chair, so it’s great to have a proper grotto,” Edmondson said.
This grotto is completely different. A winter wonderland has been set up inside a shop space in the Mall, complete with Santa’s house. Santa sits inside on his rocking chair, his table and lamp on one side, and a Christmas tree on the other.
The slightly portly Edmonson certainly looks the part when he’s dressed up complete with his white beard, spectacles, a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots.
Although he tells the children his main language is ‘North Pole-ish’, Edmonson prefers to communicate in English and when he gets into a sticky situation with a child visiting his grotto, a discreet cough brings his multi-lingual helper Elf, 19-year-old Roman, to his aid.
“I speak Russian, Greek and English and I help Santa out whenever he needs it, I enjoy working with the children,” Roman said.
Edmonson said: “We’re all children inside and we all love Christmas. The presents we have with us are suitable for children up to about 12 years old, but we welcome everyone.”
The red clad figure says he is also making a small guidebook, ‘Essential Greek for Santas’, which will include prompts to help him with Greek-speaking children.
Edmonson says he’s tried to keep the costs of the first dedicated Paphos grotto down. “Most grottos in the UK cost about £8 entrance fee and ours is five euros.”
Santa and his two elves will be at the Paphos grotto until Christmas Eve, before returning to the mall on December 27 until January 5.
“I tell the children that I will have to have a couple of days day off to recover, as delivering so many presents is usually hard work, my elves get tired too,” said Edmonson. “We will be back at the grotto in time for Russian Christmas.”

Santa’s grotto in Paphos has been organised by T.O.T.T. Events, and is open 2pm-6.30pm weekdays, Saturday 11am -5.30pm and Sunday 2pm-5pm. It is situated opposite the Orphanides supermarket entrance inside the Paphos Mall. For information call 96 322902

Santa and his elves will speak to children in English, Greek and Russian

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday called on semi-state organisations (SGOs) to show a sense of responsibility to the state by agreeing to short-term loans that would put €200m into empty state coffers. 
Asked whether payment of public workers’ December salaries would be put at risk if the SGOs refuse to loan the state money, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said that first and foremost, the SGOs needed to show a sense of responsibility to the state in these “difficult times”.
“We are at a very critical stage and it is everyone’s responsibility to help overcome these difficulties so we can move forward,” he said.
The government is seeking a three-month loan from the profit-making telecommunications and electricity authorities which the SGOs will get back with interest, he said.
“And the state needs that money now to be able to cover its financing needs in December where its obligations are very high due to the payroll and other end of year costs,” he added.
Telecoms company CyTA has already agreed to lend the state €100m from the workers’ pension fund at an interest rate of 5.5 per cent despite unions representing half its staff threatening strike action.
The electricity authority (EAC) put off a decision on whether to also loan the government €100m from the workers’ pension fund on Friday, choosing instead to wait until Monday’s discussion of the issue at the House Finance Committee.
The government needs to find approximately €400m this month to meet its payroll obligations, including public workers’ 13th salaries.
Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly has told the EU that Cyprus can meet its financing needs until the end of January but this statement rests on two conditions: that domestic investors, mainly banks, agree to roll over maturing debt; and additional financing is found, mainly from SGOs, to cover the end of year deficit.  
Stefanou described the debate on the short-term loan requests as “unnecessary and harmful” to the economy. 
Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC yesterday, presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades accused the government of painting the picture that Cyprus could survive a few more months without an international bailout.
This aimed at prolonging negotiations with the troika beyond January and even after the February elections, he said, highlighting the possibility of a memorandum not being signed during the current government’s term in office.
Responding, Stefanou accused the DISY leader of trying to blackmail the government into signing a memorandum here and now when the sum that the banks will eventually need to recapitalise has yet to be clarified.

DISY presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades has accused the government of stalling over the memorandum

THE COMRADE was in top form this week on his visit to Brussels, bad-mouthing our partners, slamming the EU, expressing disgust for the thieving markets and of course blaming Athanasios Orphanides and the banks for Kyproulla’s current woes.
“We were stabbed in the back by different quarters of the Union – allegations of money laundering, allegations that we were a paradise for Russian oligarchs, allegations that we would use the loan to protect the Russians and much more, all of which were blows below the belt,” he told the members of our representation in Brussels.
Although he was too diplomatic to name the back-stabbers, so as not to hurt the feelings of his dear and close friend Angel Merkel, he was obviously referring to the nasty Germans who have been mouthing off about our money-laundering past and enviously moaning about the deposits of Russian money in our banks.
And let’s face it, only the Germans are capable of stabbing you in the back, from different quarters and at the same time hitting you below the belt.

HE PROMISED to reveal his feelings about the “lack of solidarity in this Union of supposed solidarity” after the end of the wounded Kyproulla’s presidency, but for now he would be happy to maintain our dignity.
“We are a small country, we are few in numbers, but we have dignity and you have proved this; we have all proved this.”
His harshest words against the EU were uttered on a Euronews show about the ‘explosion of poverty in Europe’ which featured scenes of poverty and destitution.
The heart-broken comrade said: “This is the EU of 2013, of the 21st century. We all thought that joining the EU, at the end of the day, we would be eating with golden spoons… not even with wooden ones would be eating soon. Unfortunately. Why?”
Graciously, he did not blame Orphanides for this. “Because those who exploit the sweat of ordinary people are in power. The so-called markets, with their impunity, have stolen the wealth of many countries and dictated the fate – economic and social – of Europeans.”

THERE are no limits to the guy’s nerve. He went out of his way to piss off his partners in the EU, ignoring their pleas to engage in bailout talks, siding with Russia on foreign policy issues, slamming the European economic model, failing to honour agreements he signed for a deficit reduction and now pretends he is hurt by the lack of solidarity.
If it were not for the EU propping up our banks, the taxpayer would not be able to pay for the petrol of his bullet-proof limo and he would not be travelling around the world in a private jet and eating his machallepi with the golden spoon.
And let’s be fair it was not the thieving markets who stole the wealth of our country. It was the greedy public parasites, Cyprus Airways, EAC, bankers, the politicians on massive wages and perks, and a president who was distributing money we did not have in the form of allowances and benefits in the hope of securing a second term.

ALTHOUGH the comrade’s concern for the ordinary man is very moving, he should admit that he is still eating with the golden spoon and will carry on doing so until he meets his maker, as he will take home a 350 grand plus retirement bonus, collect a pension of 70 grand a year and have a chauffeur, car and secretary paid for by the taxpayer.
He has even ensured that the president’s salary would be higher in 2013, as this would help increase his pension by a few tens of euro. Finance ministry insiders claimed that more was cut, by mistake, from the president’s salary for 2012, so the amount was added to next year’s pay.
I bet the addition was made on the instructions of the greedy comrade, who despite his communist ideals loves money more than a capitalist does and takes every last cent from the taxpayer he is entitled to by law. He always demands his €200 per diem allowance when abroad, even though the taxpayer picks up all his bills for eating with the golden spoon.

MANY of the beneficiaries of the comrade’s generosity with the taxpayer’s money were outside the legislature last week protesting about the proposed cuts to benefits and allowances that would force them to eat with the wooden spoon.
Only the protest by the representatives of big families, whose super-allowances were cut by the troika, turned violent as they fought with cops, and threw stones and eggs at the legislature building, while mothers sobbed and shouted curses at deputies. It was the best of the protests, by far, but they have the numbers to make it a success.
The mothers were furious because the ‘mother’s allowance’, paid every month to women with three or more kids was abolished on the instructions of the troika. I never knew there was such an allowance which was paid to a mother long after her kids had grown up, left home and started their own families.
It was an allowance thought up by the generous comrades to ‘honour and reward’ mothers for having children. Even bad mothers were eligible for this lifetime payment.

SPEAKING of mothers with hordes of children, I feel obliged to reproduce the exchange of Groucho Marx and a mother of 10 on his TV show You Bet Your Life. The contestant told Groucho that she had 10 kids and he asked why she had so many. “Because I love children… and I love my husband,” she said. Groucho replied: “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.”

YOU CAN sympathise with the members of big families and the disabled, but the self-pitying teachers crying because they would lose a few hundred euro from their over-inflated pay checks were a nauseating sight.
Every day of the past week, their union bosses were on radio and TV shows complaining about this great injustice and threatening ‘dynamic measures’ if they had to teach an extra period a week.
As part of the campaign to earn the pity of the public, the teachers arranged for Phil to publish how much money would be cut from the monthly salary of primary teachers on a variety of pay-scales. Interestingly there were tables showing how much would be deducted, but nowhere was the original wage printed.
We were shown that a teacher on the A11 pay scale would have 17.39 per cent cut from his wage in 2014, which represented €777, but nowhere were we told what the salary was. My calculations showed it is €4,465 per month, which is not bad for someone who works for half a day, five days a week for seven months a year.

THE HEAD of the Energy Service Solon Kasinis always came across as a bit of lunatic, but his situation appears to have deteriorated recently. On Tuesday he was a guest on a CyBC TV show and spoke like the Hydrocarbons Messiah, urging skeptical viewers to have faith in his prophecies.
From the three-dimensional plans he saw he reckoned there were 60 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in our exclusive economic zone. And this was not counting the sea north of Kyproulla. Now if the drilling went deeper to 7.5km he was certain we would also strike oil; he prophesied that there were about two billion barrels worth of crude oil in our EEZ.
If we simply sold our plots with 60 trillion cubic feet, not bothering to extract and market the gas, we would make a cool 60 billion bucks said the Messiah. If we extracted it and installed pipelines to take it places we would make $300 billion and if we liquefied it or turned it into a petro-chemical (Kasinis would do this by waving his walking stick) we would make $600 billion.
And before the mega-bucks start flowing in and we throw away our wooden spoons, some four to five thousand jobs would be created said Kasinis in his sixth prophesy. What are we waiting for to tear up the memorandum of association, tell the troika to go to hell and give all mothers their allowances back?

KASINIS’ prophesies are restrained compared to those made by the apprentice gas prophet and presidential hopeful Yiorkos Lilligas, who a couple of weeks ago was claiming we could make as much as €80 billion from pre-selling junk bonds in plot 12 and thus survive without a bailout.
Yiorkos has become extremely irritating in the last few weeks because he is everywhere. And when you do not see him talking about his simplistic political proposals with which he hopes to win the votes of the less intelligent voters, his campaign team accost via mobile phones or the internet.
Ten days ago my mobile rang and I was asked if I wanted to attend the Lilligas gathering at the Hilton Park Hotel the following day. I said no, because I had heard all I needed to hear from Lilligas. But where had the caller found my number? He said that it was given by friends and associates of Mr Lilligas.
I asked the guy to delete me from his list, but half an hour later, I received a text message from ‘LILLIKAS’, inviting me to the same event. A week later, on Tuesday, I received an e-mail from a fan of Lillikas which had a Greek translation of the bailout agreement as an attachment.
“I am forwarding this message which, in my view, constitutes an example of the Giorgos Lillikas approach,” wrote the candidate’s employee. The approach was “Correct citizen, informed citizen.” The e-mail also had links to this nuisance candidate’s website, articles etc. Then I drove through Nicosia’s Gavrielides traffic lights and right in front of me was a massive poster featuring a picture of the self-satisfied Lillikas’ head, informing us ‘we can’.
I could not to go to sleep on that night terrified that the ubiquitous Lillikas had found a way of harassing me in my nightmares as well.

THE MINISTER of Labour, Sotiroulla Charalabous, the comrade’s Pourekka, has found a new method for boosting unemployment figures, something she has done very consistently and efficiently during five years in her post. She passed legislation threatening employers who did not pay a 13th salary to staff with €15,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment.
She presumably hopes this would lead to the closure of companies that cannot afford to pay the 13th salary - preferable for the employer to a stint in prison - thus creating more jobless. Does she not realise that not every employer can go to Cyta and demand it lends him money from its employees’ pension fund so that he can pay 13th salaries?
I hope Cyta and the EAC refuse to give the millions the government is demanding and it is unable to pay 13th salaries to public parasites. This is not because I have anything against the parasites, but I want to see their employer charged and taken to prison for violating Pourekka’s law.

IT SEEMS the only employees who will not experience any pay cut and would also receive a 13th salary are those of the Bank of Cyprus. Funny, how everyone will take home less money this month except the employees of one of the banks that caused the current economic fiasco.
The timid board members of the B of C, who said and did nothing while their megalomaniac CEO destroyed the bank, are afraid to take a decision and so is the dynamic new chairman, Andreas Artemis. Are the directors protecting their own, substantial earnings or are they just too scared to take any decision?

Photographers shooting (photos of) the Comrade in Brussels this week

The former Governor of the Central Bank Athanasios Orphanides has been made a scapegoat by President Christofias and AKEL for the economic problems currently facing the country and the bailout. The official line, repeated by the president, his spokesmen and AKEL officials is the bailout was a direct result of the banking crisis which was caused by Orphanides’ inadequate supervision. The government, in contrast, did not put a foot wrong.  We asked the former governor to answer the accusations being leveled against him.

In his recent address to the people, President Christofias accused you of being responsible for the €8 billion loss the banks have incurred - €4bn as a result of the Greek debt haircut and €4bn as a result of your approval of the merger of Marfin with Laiki. Is there any truth in this?
It is sad that at this critical time for our country, the president instead of offering a message of unity, resorted to lies. Let’s look at the so-called €4bn loss as a result of the conversion of Marfin from a subsidiary to a branch in 2010. Based on the European Banking Authority’s methodology and the European supervisory framework, the parent company, and hence the country where it is based, has the obligation to cover any recapitalisation required either for a subsidiary or any of its branches. Marfin Popular was based in Cyprus from 2006, before I took over at the Central Bank.

And the €4bn loss from the Greek haircut?
This was clearly a political decision at the time taken by President Christofias and his counterparts at the Summit meeting. Personally I strongly objected to this, as did the other central bankers who warned that any Greek debt haircut would be damaging for the eurozone. This was discussed at a number of summit meetings in 2011 and on June 21 of the same year a 20 per cent haircut was agreed, which I believed at the time was manageable for Cyprus. However instead of implementing this decision the heads of state reneged and on October 26 of that year agreed to an 80 per cent haircut. This was a disastrous decision for Cyprus.

Andros Kyprianou claimed a few days ago that it was you and your counterparts at the ECB who took this decision?
This is a lie. It was not in the jurisdiction of the ECB to take such a decision. This decision was taken by the heads of state, Mr Christofias included. Even though the ECB disagreed with this decision it was forced to cope with it.

Was our president aware of the extent of the damage such a decision would have on Cyprus?
He should have been! A head of state who attends these high level meetings where such decisions are taken should at the very least be informed of their consequences. The banks’ exposure to the Greek government bonds was well-known following the stress tests they conducted in June 2011. The first thing that a leader had to do before agreeing to such a deal was to see how his country would have been affected. When the heads of state took this decision they knew, or at least should have known, what this would mean for their banking system and their economy.

In its defence, the government claims that if it did not agree to the haircut then Greece would have been financially ruined.
So it was a conscious decision to destroy Cyprus to save Greece. But in the EU it’s not a case of one or the other. You explain your problem and seek solutions. Every leader has a right and a duty to defend his country in these meetings. In the case of the Greek banks, for which an 80 per cent haircut would have been catastrophic, the Greek government sought and acquired an additional amount for the banking sector’s recapitalisation. It seems that Cyprus never raised such an issue and our president accepted the demise of our banks. Furthermore, he agreed that in the event they needed recapitalisation the state would cover this. It was obvious that our president went completely unprepared to these meetings.

Do you believe that it was conscious decision or a major blunder?
It doesn’t really matter now as the result is the same. I think that only the president could answer this. Personally, I was shocked when he took this decision. During our very last meeting in April 2012 I asked him this question but did not get a reply.

In one interview Christofias claims you never informed him of what was at stake.
I tried on a number of occasions to advise him but they were all in vain. He would neither return my calls nor respond to my letters. Almost daily I used to inform and advise the then Finance Minister, Kikis Kazamias.

You said in April 2011 that the banks could handle a haircut?
Yes, I did say that, and the banks were able to handle the 20 per cent haircut that was decided in June 2011. They could have even coped with a higher one but there were limits, and unfortunately our president, at the October 26 summit meeting agreed to the 80 per cent haircut.

Many say that you did not talk when you should have, and that when President Christofias did not reappoint you, you started criticising him?
I spoke when and where I should have. I never leaked information to the press. I did not feel that public confrontation and apportioning blame would have been constructive in any way. Even after these wrong decisions were taken, I believed that with the correct actions the situation would have been manageable. The then finance minister Kikis Kazamias also agreed with this and it was in this direction that we tried to work together.

But you did not resist the temptation?
There was no temptation and I only went public when the government and AKEL’s propaganda machine began accusing me to cover their own shortcomings on the matter. They also decided to wage a merciless war on the banks. That is why I pleaded with him on June 19, through an open letter, to stop this war, and if his intention was to find those responsible for our problems he should have looked at his decisions.

Are you blameless in all of this?
I blame myself for not being able to convince the government and AKEL to change their policies to save the country. The damage that AKEL’s government has inflicted on the economy is colossal. It was evident from the very first year of its administration that its economic policies were dangerous. There were numerous warnings both by others and myself. I would just like to remind those who accuse me of not saying anything, that Mr Christofias, at the time, complained that ‘wherever he finds a mike, he blames the government economic policy’.

When the 2007 crisis began to unfold what measures did you take to safeguard the banks?
We took very precise and targeted measures. We limited bank lending which was excessive and demanded greater security for housing loans, something for which we were strongly attacked by the present government as soon as it took office. In this way, real estate prices did not plummet and banks remained healthy.

Could it be that you did not foresee the extent of the eurozone crisis?
On the contrary. From 2009 we asked both Marfin Popular and the Bank of Cyprus for a significant increase in their capital and the banks complied by securing billions. The problem arose after May 2011 when the state lost its trustworthiness in the markets. This made it near impossible for our banks to secure more capital and the system became particularly vulnerable. It was then that I informed all interested parties that a change in course was not just an option, but a necessity to avert the collapse of the Cyprus economy.

Why was May 2011 so critical?
In May 2011 the state was excluded from the markets and in turn could not provide the banks with any temporary assistance, as it should have, which posed big risks to the economy. It left the banks exposed and led to the problem caused by the October 26 summit decision on the Greek haircut. On top of this Mr Christofias and his counterparts at the summit decided that banks had to increase their capital adequacy to levels above nine per cent. These decisions that the president endorsed without seeking help for the Cypriot banks, as Greece had done, created the €1.8bn deficit for Marfin Popular.

So the banks are to blame for the memorandum?
We cannot ignore that we have been affected by the eurozone crisis. But no other government accused its banking sector or its supervisory bodies because its banks bought Greek government bonds. The war against banks for buying Greek bonds is a unique ploy by our government in its attempt to find a scapegoat and cover its mistakes, its incompetence and unwillingness to deal with the problem. The irresponsible bashing of the banks led to deposits being moved overseas and cultivated a lack of trust for the banks to such a degree that it is now impossible to attract foreign investment to Cyprus.

What do you consider as the government’s biggest mistake?
I think it was its failure to evaluate the dangers that our economy was facing and take the necessary corrective measures. With the right decisions we could have avoided the memorandum. The last chance was lost last May when the government rejected finance minister Vassos Shiarly’s desperate efforts to implement the measures our president had promised the EU he would take. I will repeat what was required: trustworthiness. Nothing else!

Why is the lack of trustworthiness so important?
With no trustworthiness the markets cannot trust you; you cannot borrow from them. The imperative was for the government to urgently regain its trustworthiness in the markets. Do you recall how the president responded last May to Shiarly’s plans, when he said it did not matter that the government’s profligacy had bloated the deficit? That it was not the ministry mandarins who would decide how much he would spend. You know that our country is now paying for this irresponsibility, and very dearly. If he had taken measures to tackle the widening deficit, even as late as May this year, he could have maintained the backing of the ECB for funding through the banks and we could have avoided the memorandum.

Why was this possible then but not now?
When I was Governor, the ECB accepted the Cyprus government bonds as security for the provision of liquidity as monetary policy transactions. It was well known however, that for this practice to continue it was necessary for the government to show that it was seriously committed to implementing the fiscal consolidation programme.

Was there a specific proposal by the ECB or is this just speculation?
On April 17, 2012 I had arranged an official meeting in Frankfurt at which Mr Shiarly proposed to the ECB a set of measures that would be put in force by the end of May. If these measures were implemented we would have persuaded the ECB to continue to accept our government bonds as security, as well as the bonds required for the €1.8bn recapitalisation of Marfin Popular. In this way we would have embarked on a fiscal consolidation course and would have avoided the memorandum. Unfortunately, the government and AKEL blocked the minister’s plans for spending cuts.

Was it then that the president told Mr Shiarly during a press conference that he was an administrator of the economy who knew nothing about politics?
Yes, it was at the same news conference that he talked about the ministry mandarins and pledged that he would not take any measures for fiscal consolidation. The consequence of this irresponsibility was the exclusion of the Cyprus government bonds from transactions of the ECB. The president’s decision to reject the measures the finance minister had committed to was tantamount to inviting the troika for a bailout with tougher measures.

Do you believe that this government would have taken any measures if there was no imminent danger of a total collapse of the economy?
As turned out no, and this is the crux of the problem. A responsible government should have taken measures. Unfortunately this government showed contempt for the most basic principle that governs public administration - responsibility. AKEL’s government spent one billion more than it was receiving every year. It was only a matter of time before the state lost its access to the markets, as happened in June 2012. The memorandum that the AKEL government has now agreed will counter the billion euro wasted every year, but unfortunately with harsh and unfair measures while unemployment is at an all-time high.

Former Central Bank Governor Athanasios Orphanides

AS IF the desperate conditions under which businesses are currently operating were not bad enough, they also have to cope with additional pressure put on them by a labour minister who thinks she is still representing the trade union that once employed her. The last thing our cash-strapped, failing businesses need at this time is a dogmatic communist with no understanding of how the market economy works turning the screw on them.
In five years at the labour ministry Sotiroulla Charalambous has never hidden her pro-union bias nor her open hostility towards employers, whom she has repeatedly targeted with restrictive measures. She also adopted the police state tactic of sending out labour inspectors to carry out random checks of businesses to ensure that ministerial decrees were being respected and impose fines on those who were ignoring them.
The minister, for whom the free market is anathema, raised the statutory minimum wage at a time of soaring unemployment and imposed fines on employers who violated restrictive union practices. In October she decided that her inspectors would impose fines on an employer who did not pay all his workers the same wage as this was regarded a violation of the collective agreements. At about the same time she increased the fines imposed on employers who delayed payment of wages, as if this would help things. Would a company with no cash and no access to bank credit pay wages on time because of a heavier fine?
The problem is that Ms Charalambous – no doubt encouraged by the president - has always operated on the assumption that all employers were ruthless exploiters that needed to be kept in line with restrictive legislation and the fear of punitive measures. And she refuses to cut the hated employers any slack even in these recession-hit times during which the overwhelming majority are struggling to keep their businesses alive against all odds.
There is no recognition of the fact that most businesses are operating with losses, paying extortionate interest rates to the banks and are unable to obtain credit. On the contrary, Ms Charalambous’ hostility toward business is unwavering. On Friday the Labour Ministry issued an announcement threatening to bring criminal charges against employers who did not pay the 13th salary to its employees. It passed a law which stipulated fines of €15,000 and prison sentences of up to six months for employers who did not pay the 13th salary.
What is a business that simply does not have the money to make these payments supposed to do? It is unlikely to find any bank willing to lend it the money and it cannot raid the CyTA employees’ pension fund as the state hopes to do in order to pay 13th salaries of public employees. The employer could just decide to close the business down rather than face a prison term, in which case the labour ministry’s tough law would have contributed to increasing unemployment.
More disappointing has been the approach of OEV, the Employers and Industrialists’ Federation which on Friday urged all its members that paid a 13th salary to their staff in the past to do so again this year. This is an organisation that is supposed to promote the interests of employers but has been known to side with the unions, as it did last January when the issue of suspending payment of CoLA in the private sector was raised. OEV often gives the impression it is in cahoots with the unions, supporting the labour market rigidities imposed by collective agreements which undermine the competitiveness of its members.
It is incredible how the federation that supposedly represents the interests of employers is now siding with the most anti-business labour minister we have ever had. Instead of publicly repeating Ms Charalambous’ diktat about the 13th salary, OEV should have explained the difficulties businesses were going through and that the majority would not be able to pay it, because in this economic climate most firms cannot afford it. The Federation should also have pointed out that employers never tried to get out of paying 13th salaries in the past, but these were exceptional circumstances.
Rather than defend its members and question the ministry’s punitive bill, OEV has in effect sided with a communist fanatic who has been on a mission to destroy businesses, regardless of the damage this does to the economy. It would appear that Charalambous and the AKEL propaganda machine have persuaded even OEV to support its anti-business agenda.

THE IMPLEMENTATION of the smoking ban nearly three years ago has had no adverse economic effect on profits in the catering and tourist industries, according to a study by the Technological University of Cyprus (TEPAK).

The full details of the research will be announced next week, but preliminary data released yesterday indicate that the smoking ban, imposed in January 2010, has actually had a slight positive influence on turnover.

The econometric study used anonymous data gathered from the VAT office provided by the ministry of finance, to make statistical comparisons before and after the law was passed. Data was taken from active hotels, restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and pubs from the start of 2005 until the end of 2011. Information was also used relating to factors that affect those specific businesses, like tourism, unemployment, growth and inflation.

The study, which was carried out in co-operation with the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, the South-Eastern European Research Centre and the Cyprus Tourist Organisation (CTO), also looked at attitudes to the smoking ban within the catering and tourist industries.

Six hundred employees and employers from randomly selected businesses - restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels - from across Cyprus were chosen to take part in the study to show the different attitudes, perceptions and behaviour of owners and employees regarding active and passive smoking, exposure to tobacco smoke and the new anti-smoking laws. 

Of those chosen, 410 were men and 190 were women, 40 per cent were owners of the businesses, 47 per cent permanent employees, nine per cent seasonal employees and the remaining four per cent, partners. 

Approximately 35 per cent of the participants were regular smokers, nine per cent casual smokers and 19 per cent former smokers. 

Before the anti-smoking law was passed, 52 per cent of businesses allowed smoking anywhere on the premises while only seven per cent had a complete ban. After the law was passed, only 4.5 per cent continued to allow smoking in all areas while the complete ban rose to almost 50 per cent. From the businesses that were checked, only around 10 per cent said they had paid a fine for flouting the law. 

Almost 80 per cent of participants said they agreed with the law as it protects the employees in the catering and tourist industry. 75 per cent believe it contributes to a cleaner and happier environment and 87 per cent believe it protects non-smokers' rights.

The full results of the survey will be announced at a conference at the Shacoleio Amphitheatre on Thursday, December 27 from 4pm-8pm. The programme was funded by the Cyprus government and the European Regional Development Fund through the Research Promotion Foundation.

The main speaker at the conference will be Dr Joseph Difranza, a distinguished professor from the University of Massachusetts, who has pioneered studies relating to the development of nicotine addiction on adolescents. He will also present the latest results of his studies on this subject.

DEPUTY MINISTER for European Affairs Andreas Mavroyiannis yesterday hailed the “tangible and significant results” achieved by the Cyprus EU presidency in the last six months. 

As the Cyprus presidency enters its final week of meetings, Mavroyiannis joined Irish ministers in Brussels yesterday to mark preparations for handing over the baton from the “extreme east” of the EU to the “extreme west”. 

Ireland will be assuming the presidency of the Council of the EU as of January 1 for the next six months after Cyprus concludes its first ever presidency in the union.

Mavroyiannis presented an overview of the Cyprus presidency’s achievements at a joint press conference with representatives of the Irish presidency - Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore and Irish European Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton - who presented the priorities of their upcoming presidency.

Reflecting on the past six months, Mavroyiannis said he believed one of the presidency’s principal ambitions has been fulfilled; that is “to act as an honest broker, aiming to progress work within the Council and facilitate inter-institutional cooperation”.

“Allow me to say, with all modesty and honesty, that the Cyprus presidency has achieved tangible and significant results for the union, through a functional, pragmatic and results-oriented approach,” said the Cypriot minister.  

Mavroyiannis referred to the main achievements of the presidency, including the historic agreement on the unitary patent package with the European Parliament. He also highlighted the importance of the agreement reached in the Council last week on the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), which will bring the EU a step closer to a banking union, as well as the significant progress achieved in relation to the Common European Asylum System and Schengen governance.

“Even though our goal for establishing the Common European Asylum System by the end of the year has not been 100 per cent fulfilled, our efforts brought the EU very close to this goal,” said Mavroyiannis. 

One of the strategic initiatives of the Cyprus presidency was to reenergise the EU Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP). To this end, the Limassol Declaration on a marine and maritime agenda for growth and jobs was adopted, he said.

Mavroyiannis also referred to the momentous efforts of the presidency in moving forward the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MMF), which resulted in bringing the file to a level of maturity that lays the ground for the president of the European Council and the heads of state or government to come close to an agreement. 

Diplomats have told the Cyprus Mail that securing agreement on the MMF, which covers the EU budget for the next seven years, in the current economic and political climate would have been a tall order for even the most experienced or powerful member state. Clinching a compromise agreement between net contributors and recipients of the EU budget, as well as the commission and parliament is expected in 2013. 

The Cypriot deputy minister underlined the completion of legislative work on key actions of the Single Market Act such as venture capital and social entrepreneurship funds, trans-European networks on energy and the alternative and online dispute resolution.

”In a few words, our aspiration was to move even a small step further the European integration..... and, I think that the important results of our presidency reflect that we succeeded in this,” he said.

The representatives of the Irish presidency congratulated the Cyprus presidency for its “major achievement” on the SSM agreement, with Gilmore noting: “You have set a very tough act to follow.” 

Creighton thanked the Cyprus presidency for a very smooth handover from a “successful presidency”. 

THE CYPRUS Forestry College which has trained thousands of forestry officials over the past 60 years will close down next year, the ministry of agriculture announced yesterday.

Situated in Prodromos, in a central position within the island’s main state forest, the college was ideally located for students training in forestry. The college was also highly beneficial for the village of Prodromos, as part of the students’ education included working on and tending to the forest grounds immediately surrounding the college, with students often being on a 24-hour duty for the upkeep of the area.

“The decision to close down the college has come after a four-year-long study on whether it should continue operating and has not been premature or hasty,” Andreas Christou, the department of forests spokesman said yesterday. He said the growing number of forestry graduates from Greece, who are equally or better qualified than Cyprus Forestry College graduates, had made it increasingly difficult for those from the Prodromos college to find jobs. High running costs were another reason which led to the decision to close the college, he said.

The Cyprus Forestry College was established in 1951 and offered diplomas and higher diplomas in forestry. It has been a part of the Leonardo da Vinci programme, the Socrates/Erasmus educational exchange network and other European educational programmes. 

Cyprus Green Party MP Giorgos Perdikis said the number of unemployed forestry graduates, which now stands at 120, played an important part in this decision. 

“The college was a great help for the village of Prodromos. It is a pity it is closing down, for the village and for students from abroad, from Africa and Asia. They are considered everlasting friends of Cyprus,” he said.

Christou said the college will enrol around six new first year students next year and these will be the college’s final students.

He said there would be no redundancies at the college.

“College personnel were not only for teaching or training and will therefore continue to work in the Forestry College, which will function in the future as a training centre for forest officials, forest workers and firemen, as well as further training. No one is being let go,” he added. 

MORE THAN a quarter of women in Cyprus have suffered some form of domestic violence, according to the first national study carried out on violence in the family. 

Based on the study’s findings, 28 per cent of Cypriot women have experienced some form of abuse from their husbands/partners, with the highest proportion of abuse (36 per cent) recorded in women in the 45-64 age group. 

Nearly 60 per cent of female victims of violence do not report the incident to anyone. 

Researchers from Frederick University compiled the first national report on behalf of the Advisory Committee for the Prevention & Combating of Family Violence, based on 1,107 Greek-speaking women respondents over the age of 18 from urban and rural households across Cyprus.

The results, released this month, reveal alarming statistics on the extent, frequency, nature and consequences of domestic violence against women in Cyprus. 

According to the study, domestic violence against women is defined as “any act of violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty and is inflicted upon women by their husband/ex husband spouse /ex spouse”.

The researchers justified their focus on acts of violence against women only by highlighting international research which shows that almost all domestic violence is based on gender power relations and is directed by men against women. 

They further noted the difficulty in getting a clear picture of domestic violence in Cyprus, mainly due to the absence of a unified central data bank for reported cases of abuse since different services and departments keep their own statistical data on the matter. 

According to the study’s findings, some forms of violence, such as psychological and social violence appear to be more acceptable for women than physical violence. A minority of women in the sample, 7 per cent, perceive a forced sexual encounter within marriage or within a relationship as acceptable behaviour.

At least 28 per cent of women reported some kind of violence. The average percentage of the various kinds of violence inflicted upon women (from rarely to every day) is as follows: economic violence (19.4 per cent); emotional /psychological violence (19.3 per cent); sexual violence (15.5 per cent); social violence (14.8 per cent), and physical violence (13.4 per cent).

The study found that all types of physical and sexual violence include psychological and emotional abuse.

It also noted that the education of either the victim or perpetrator seem to have no relation to domestic violence. 

However, age, family status, place of residence, financial situation, and management of family income appear to have a correlation with the existence of domestic violence against women.  

According to the research, violence decreases when the family financial status improves. Also, less violence is recorded when the couple makes decisions on financial issues together.

Women of the sample that belong to the age group 45-64 reported more violence (36 per cent) followed by age groups 35-44 and 25-34 (28 per cent and 26 per cent respectively).

The highest cases of domestic violence were reported in Limassol (40 per cent), while Larnaca had the lowest reported cases (27 per cent). 

Only 9 per cent of those injured after violent behaviour against them received medical care.

A considerable percentage (57 per cent) of those who reported having been victims of violence did not tell anybody about their abuse. The main reasons for not disclosing the incident are the thought they are to blame for the abuse, their children, fear of the perpetrator's reaction and the feeling of shame (social stigma).

One third of women sampled said they had little or no information on services available for victims of family violence.

From those who speak of their abuse to others, only 5 per cent ring the hotline 1440 (Association for the Prevention and Handling of Family Violence) for psychological support and only 2 per cent report the incident to the police.

According to the report’s conclusions, “the present findings should alarm relevant services and the community as a whole and should contribute to the adoption of measures that will combat this severe social problem”.

A number of recommendations are made to the authorities, including securing adequate funding to enable the implementation of the national action plans.

It recommends the establishment of a national co-ordinating body to keep a register of all reported cases, and create a comprehensive, central, co-ordinated, regularly updated and easily searchable database on violence against women.

The study calls for campaigns to raise awareness on violence against women, focusing on combating sexist attitudes and stereotypes that perpetuate this kind of violence while targeting various groups, such as men, school children (especially boys) and disadvantaged women groups (like non-Greek speaking women).  

The report proposes the promotion of primary prevention of violence against women through: the educational system, which plays a key role in the socialisation of children and acts as a transmitter of values; and the through co-operation between state agencies and NGOs working in the area of domestic violence against women.

It also recommends free anger management programmes for perpetrators of violence against women.

And finally, it highlighted the need for further research on the matter, to be repeated at regular intervals so as to follow up the prevalence of the problem and to adjust relevant services accordingly.

THE CENTRAL Bank has called on the island’s largest lender to re-jig its board so that no independent director serves for more than nine years, as part of a drive to improve corporate governance.

Central Bank sources yesterday said the CB chief's circular - sent earlier this month - was simply a reminder to the Bank of Cyprus (BoC) to enforce the regulations, but also to get the ball rolling with regard to coming changes to banking governance.

Under a regulatory administrative act (as amended in 2009), the board of directors “must explain why it considers a member as being independent...if they have been on the board for more than nine years subsequent to their initial appointment.”

Directors are of three types: executive, non-executive and independent non-executive. A non-executive director or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. They are not employees of the company or affiliated with it in any other way and are differentiated from inside directors, who are members of the board who also serve or previously served as executive managers of the company (most often as corporate officers).

Independent directors are distinguished from non-executive directors in that, unlike the latter, they are not allowed to hold shares in the company.

The Central Bank sources cited also the memorandum of understanding agreed between Cyprus and its international lenders, whereby authorities here undertook to pass legislation by the end of June 2013 to “strengthen governance by prohibiting commercial banks from lending to independent board members, including their connected parties, and removing any board members in arrears on existing debts to their banks, while lending to other board members will be prohibited above a certain threshold, which will be calibrated by the Central Bank of Cyprus.”

Moreover, the memorandum states, “loans and other credit facilities to each board member will be disclosed to the public. A majority of directors in banks’ boards will be independent.”

Affected banks must comply with the regulator’s circular, although it’s up to them to decide how. By way of example, independent directors with nine years’ service would either have step down or change their status to executive or non-executive directors.

The CB chief’s circular was sent to the BoC, where it’s understood that a number of independent board directors are nearing the nine-year threshold.

It was not sent to Popular Bank, which is currently state-controlled, nor to the co-operatives, not yet under the supervision of the CB.

Reports said the matter was set to be discussed during a BoC board meeting yesterday; the bank offered a “no comment” when contacted by the Mail. It neither confirmed nor denied receipt of the circular.

But reports over the weekend suggested the bank is well aware of it. Unnamed BoC sources told Politis, which broke the story, that there were sinister motives behind the move. They claimed the regulator wants to reshuffle the bank’s leadership to make it more amenable to increasing the stake of Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, the largest shareholder in the bank. The paper named the six board members that would be affected by the CB’s request.

Commenting on this, the same Central Bank sources yesterday told the Mail the “reaction, as seen in the press, has been blown out of all proportion. There is no conspiracy, we are merely asking that the law be applied.”

Meanwhile US-based firm Alvarez & Marsal is conducting a probe into the circumstances that led two of the nation’s banks to seek state support.

On June 25, Cyprus became the fifth of the euro area’s 17 member states to seek an international bailout, after Popular sought government backing for a €1.8 billion right offering. Two days later, BoC sought €500 million of government aid.

THERE appears to be a disagreement between the government and international lenders over a provision concerning the calculation of civil service pensions that is set to change as part of the island’s bailout, lawmakers heard yesterday.

The sticking point is whether the new system of calculating pensions would be retroactive or if it will cover earnings after the date it comes into force – January 1, 2013.

The troika says the former, while a government bill says otherwise.

According to the memorandum on which the two sides agreed on principle, “pension benefits will be calculated on a pro-rata basis taking into account life-time service as of January 2013.”

Attorney-general Petros Clerides, who was present in the negotiations with international lenders, said that his understanding was that pension rights until December 12, 2012 were secure and that the new method would kick in after January 1 of the new year.

Under the current system, a civil servant’s pension is calculated on the basis of his last salary.

Clerides was adamant that this had been agreed with the troika.

“I will go to the president and submit my resignation,” he told the House finance committee. “I was there the moment it was agreed.”

A finance ministry official said an effort will be made to clarify the matter with the troika.

Committee chairman Nicolas Papadopoulos asked for the issue to be settled by Thursday when the bill will be put to the vote.

Civil service union PASYDY reiterated that certain provisions were unconstitutional.

Union boss Glafkos Hadjipetrou said civil servants were prepared to contribute as long as it was lawful, warning that there will be appeals to the Supreme Court.

MORE THAN half the public believe the government should sign the memorandum with the troika while seven in ten are not happy with President Demetris Christofias’ handling of negotiations with the international lenders, according to a latest poll. 

State broadcaster CyBC last night revealed the results of the latest poll conducted on its behalf by CMR Cypronetwork Marketing Research based on a sample of 1,214 people across the island.

According to the poll, 54 per cent of those asked believe Cyprus should sign the memorandum with the troika, while 36 per cent believe it should not. 

Christofias received a very high disapproval rating with 71 per cent declaring they are not satisfied with his handling of negotiations with the troika, compared to 22 per cent who are.   

The public mood in general appeared to be one of disappointment, with 40 per cent believing no political party has taken the right position on the troika. DISY’s approach to the negotiations received the backing of 22 per cent of respondents, AKEL 15 per cent, EDEK and DIKO 4 per cent each, and 1 per cent each for EVROKO and the Greens.

Four fifths of respondents, 78 per cent, said they would vote in next February’s presidential elections, while 18 per cent plan not to. 

The vast majority of the electorate, 84 per cent, said concerns regarding the country’s public deficit and public debt will influence their vote.

Regarding politicians’ popularity, presidential contender and DISY leader Nicos Anastasiades currently tops the table with 46 per cent from the respondents. His potential coalition partner, DIKO leader Marios Garoyian, enjoys the support of 25 per cent while AKEL’s leader Andros Kyprianou also received 25 per cent support.

EDEK-backed presidential candidate Giorgos Lillikas pipped both AKEL and DIKO leaders in the popularity stakes, enjoying 35 per cent support, while AKEL-backed presidential candidate Stavros Malas came in third with 32 per cent support. 

Regardless of who they will vote for, 64 per cent of people think Anastasiades will win (6 per cent up from last month), 11 per cent Malas (a 1 per cent drop from last month), and 12 per cent Lillikas (up 2 per cent from November).

Four fifths of the public expect a second round in next February’s elections.  

According to the poll, in the first round, 37.1 per cent are ready to vote Anastasiades for president, 23.1 per cent Malas, 20.4 per cent Lillikas, 2.9 per cent Praxoulla Antoniadou, 0.2 per cent Andri Makaria Stylianou, 4.6 per cent will put in a blank vote, 5.9 per cent refused to answer, and 5.1 per cent said they will not vote. 

In a second round between Anastasiades and Malas, 43.7 per cent will vote Anastasiades and 29.6 per cent Malas, 10.6 per cent will have a blank vote, 9.8 per cent did not answer, and 5.6 per cent won’t vote. 

A second round between Anastasiades and Lillikas reveals the following results: Anastasiades gets 39.6 per cent, Lillikas 31.6 per cent, 13.2 per cent will leave a blank vote, 8.9 per cent didn’t answer, and 6.5 per cent won’t go to vote.   

Regarding the level of commitment within each party, opposition DISY appeared to have mobilised its supporters most successfully with 93.1 per cent of its members ready to vote for Anastasiades, 3.3 per cent for Lillikas, 1.3 per cent Antoniadou, and 0.8 per cent Malas. 

The historically more disciplined party AKEL is showing signs of weakness with 73.1 per cent saying they’ll vote Malas, 14.6 per cent Lillikas, 4.2 per cent Anastasiades, and 2.3 per cent Antoniadou. 

DIKO members reflected disarray in their response to the poll with less than half saying they’ll support their party’s preferred candidate Anastasiades (44.7 per cent), while 39.8 per cent preferred Lillikas, 6.5 per cent Malas, and 2.4 per cent Antoniadou. 

Regarding the three main presidential contenders, 39 per cent saw Anastasiades as the most suitable to handle the Cyprus problem today, compared to 16 per cent for Malas and 14 per cent Lillikas. 

The DISY leader was also voted the most suitable to handle domestic governance (39 per cent) with 18 per cent saying the same for Malas and 16 per cent Lillikas. 

Again, Anastasiades came out on top when respondents were asked who can best promote the interests of Cyprus internationally, with 41 per cent choosing him, 18 per cent Malas and 15 per cent Lillikas. 

In the honesty stakes, 29 per cent saw Anastasiades as honest, compared to 20 per cent for Malas and 14 per cent Lillikas. 

The DISY leader took all the glory when it came to who had the most leadership qualities, winning over 48 per cent of the sample, compared to 16 per cent for Malas and 12 per cent Lillikas. 

Once again, the opposition leader tipped the polls on who can handle the economic crisis better, winning 37 per cent support, compared to Malas’ 17 per cent and Lillikas’ 15 per cent. 

Anastasiades also came across as a man of the people, with 32 per cent saying he was “closer to the people” compared to 20 per cent saying the same for AKEL-backed Malas and 16 per cent for Lillikas.

Thirty-three per cent said the DISY leader inspires trust, 19 per cent said the same of Malas, and 16 per cent for Lillikas.  

Over a third- 35 per cent- said Anastasiades brings new ideas and approaches to politics, compared to 19 per cent for the other two candidates.

ORPHANIDES Supermarkets’ hopes for a reprieve appeared to have been dashed yesterday after its main creditors reportedly rejected the appointment of an administrator to oversee the company’s restructuring.

The news came as the company, in the red for well over €200m, announced it was temporarily shutting down 11 stores across the island amid depleting stocks.

Citing sources, the state broadcaster said last night both Popular Bank and Bank of Cyprus turned down the company’s proposal to appoint Andreas Andronikou, of UK auditing firm UHY Hacker Young, as administrator.

The banks were however said to be open to a proposal put forth by the chain’s suppliers envisaging a joint buyout of the company and using future dividends to gradually recoup what they are owed by Orphanides.

Earlier in the day, the company pleaded with the banks to quickly approve the appointment of Andronikou to prevent the chain from being wound up.

The company’s general manager Constantinos Ioannou urged the banks to act swiftly: “The company is a step before final closure, and we desperately await the banks to make up their minds on whether an administrator will be appointed and if they will back the company,” he told online news portal Stockwatch.

Ioannou said 11 stores suspended their operation yesterday, as these had “no products to sell, and so their continued operation is pointless”.

One store shut down in Paphos, three in the Limassol district, three more in Larnaca, and four in the Nicosia district.

Around 250 employees were sent home on unpaid leave, reports said.

Announcing last week that it was going into receivership, the company said it was seeking a new buyer. The largest supermarket chain on the island is indebted to banks to the tune of €140m or €150m; additionally it owes suppliers €85m and €10m to other creditors. It posted a loss of €17.7m for the first three quarters of the year.

In trying to convince the banks to back the move, the company argued that it is too big to fail, reports said. The chain was said to be hoping for a small cash injection until such time as it could sell its assets or commercial operations, or both. Lenders, however, remained sceptical.

In addition to the hundreds of supermarket employees whose jobs are on the line, a number of suppliers have been left in the lurch; the company’s demise would trigger a chain reaction, impacting merchants and leading to more layoffs.

An estimated 1,250 people are on Orphanides’ payroll, while some 2,000 more - such as drivers and packers - work on the supply end.

THE PERMANENT secretary of the finance ministry, Christos Patsalides made no secret of the desperate situation the government finds itself in during yesterday’s House finance committee meeting. He said the government would be forced to stop payments in the next few days, if it did not secure the short term loans it was seeking from the staff pension funds of semi-governmental organisations.

This was another example of the Christofias government’s recklessly incompetent running of the economy. A few days before the state was set to run out of money, the government is begging SGO workers to lend it money from their pension funds for three months. Had the finance ministry only just found out now there would be no money in December to pay the double salaries of the public sector? 

Several months ago, Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly had been telling us there was enough money to last until November so why had nothing been done to secure the necessary funds in the meantime? The government could have lightened its end-of-year funding needs, for instance, if it had agreed to the troika proposal about scrapping the 13th salaries for this year, instead of President Christofias publicly declaring the matter non-negotiable. 

With his public posturing he has put the state at risk of what Patsalides described as a ‘selective default’. Needless to say this problem would have been avoided if the spending cuts prepared by Shiarly last May, as part of our commitments to the EU, were implemented. But these were publicly vetoed by Christofias and no spending cuts were implemented until last week, as part of the memorandum of understanding. This was criminally irresponsible, especially as the government knew it could not borrow money to cover its funding needs.

So yesterday the government resorted to emotional blackmail in order to secure the funds it required. It told the boards managing CyTA and EAC pension funds that if they did not agree to lend the state some €250 million, they would be responsible for the ‘selective default’, which would set off a chain of devastating consequences for the country. It would spark the complete collapse of the economy.

Under the circumstances, we would expect the unions running the pension funds to acquiesce to the short term loan. The EAC was meeting yesterday evening to decide what it would do. This further complicated the problem, considering CyTA had said it would give €100 million on condition the EAC also agreed to lend the money. 

We are in this mess because we have a criminally irresponsible government, but it would not be the government the EAC unions would be punishing if they decided against the loan - it would be the entire country.