Tales from the Coffeeshop: Why did govt miss chance to laud Cyprus role?

WHO would have thought it would ever have been possible for the Nik II government to have a big international meeting on the sunshine isle and treat it as a big secret, the prez not making a single public boast about its significance. A two-day meeting of President Donald Trump’s creation, the Board of Peace, which would supposedly bring peace and prosperity to Gaza, was held somewhere in Kyproulla but the government pretended it knew nothing. In an unprecedented move, our Prez took zero credit for making the centre of the universe the venue for such an important meeting. He said nothing about the regional lighthouse of peace and stability, which was always part of the solution and not part of the problem, being chosen for such a historic meeting. Was he feeling ill? Never before has he allowed such a golden opportunity for self-praise and for repeating the myth about the importance of Kyproulla on the international stage. No government official that was contacted was willing to say if the BoP meeting was even taking place in our pad, on Tuesday and Wednesday, let alone reveal the venue. BIZARRE, considering spokesman Mini Me had confirmed reports in the Israeli media a week earlier that the meeting would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday on the island. Was our government embarrassed to be associated with it and pretended it wasn’t happening? Maybe it did not happen, because it is very difficult to understand how it could have been kept secret in a place where nothing is kept secret. Did nobody see former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is a member of the executive board of the BoP, and take picture of him? Blair was meant to have arrived on Monday evening and was scheduled to have a meeting with our Prez. Phil reported on Tuesday that the meeting was cancelled as Blair’s flight was delayed. Had Blair even come, considering nobody saw him? Reports that followed the meetings said that the Palestinian technocratic committee had meetings with experts from the BoP, the office of the High Representative of Gaza and the Tony Blair Institute. Was Blair’s flight delayed or did he not come? Perhaps our government will enlighten us now that the meetings are over. Impressive assertiveness: Junior ETHNARCH Junior showed impressive assertiveness last week when he demanded that the Prez postpone a scheduled cabinet meeting on Wednesday so he could meet the Diko secretariat. The Prez duly obliged, putting the cabinet meeting back to Thursday, so he could see Junior and his entourage about rusfetological matters. The meeting, reportedly, lasted two-and-a-half hours and, according to party secretary Giorgos Solomou, took place “in a not particularly cordial climate.” Junior is demanding more respect from the Prez, especially now that he leads the only party of the government alliance with seats in parliament. He had leaked the letter he sent the Prez on Tuesday, demanding a meeting the next day, to make it clear that he would be calling the shots in the relationship from now on. Solomou said that Diko expected to be consulted by the Prez before important government decisions. There had been press speculation about a cabinet reshuffle and Diko wanted to have a say. It would also expect that Dikheads would be well represented in appointments to the boards of semi-governmental organisations. With his re-election now being his number one priority, the Prez knows he cannot afford to alienate Junior. He will do anything to keep him sweet, including postponing a scheduled cabinet meeting at short notice, if this is what Junior wants. A DAY after Eurostat announced that the rate of inflation in Kyproulla in June was 4 per cent, rising from 3.5 per cent and moving in the opposite direction to the euro area average which was down to 2.8 per cent, the finance ministry issued a statement to explain the government was not to blame for this. “The government has already implemented measures aimed at tackling inflation and supporting households,” it said. This included changes to tax policy aimed at increasing disposable income. It was referring to zero VAT on some basic goods, the reduced tax on petrol and the small discount on electricity bills. These measures might support households, but they will not tackle inflation. On the contrary, increasing disposable income will fuel inflation. It was fitting, under the circumstances, that the ministry’s announcement said that improving financial literacy remained a priority. It should start with improving the financial literacy of the ministry’s mandarins who are under the illusion that increasing disposable income through tax cuts will tackle inflation. THERE IS “intense interest” in the Arhcbishopric’s scheme for tackling the low birth-rate, reported Phil. The implementation of the scheme, wrote the devout reporter, was “linked with the sensitivity of Archbishop Georgios who wants to halt the threat of the dramatic alteration of the demographic composition and character, particularly its Greek Orthodox element.” The aim is to encourage families to have a third and fourth child and the plan is quite generous. It would pay €1,500 when the child is baptised (in an Orthodox church), a grand when he registers at primary school, a grand on registration at gymnasium and another grand for going to lyceum. That is €4,500 per kid, which is not exactly a big incentive when you consider how much each one costs to feed, clothe, entertain, look after and educate. Of course, the baptism is key – if the kid is not baptised Greek Orthodox it will not be eligible to the three grand for going to school. Would the third child fathered by a man but not with the same woman also be eligible for Church assistance, if it is baptised? Generous to the Greek Orthodox: Archbishop Georgios SOME new grandiose plans were revealed by the Prez last week. On Tuesday, at the signing at the presidential palace, of the declaration labeling two gas fields in the Cyprus EEZ ‘marketable’ the Prez unveiled his latest plan. The declaration was signed by ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy that have the licence for Block 10 and it indicates that they might develop the two gas fields at some point. This, according to the Prez, “is clear evidence and a vote of confidence in the prospects of the Cyprus EEZ, but also in the prospects of the Eastern Mediterranean to develop as a potential energy corridor for Europe.” A day earlier, his energy minister had told Politis that if the Vasiliko LNG terminal was not complete by 2029, in 2030 we would not be able to cover the electricity needs of the country. Our government has failed spectacularly to bring natural gas for the power stations in Kyproulla, but we will supply Europe with gas through the energy corridor our Prez will develop. THE MOST absurd idea he came up with last week was the possibility of holding the football World Cup in Kyproulla. He said this when he appeared as a studio football pundit during the broadcasting of the England v DR Congo match on Wednesday. Having found out that Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be co-hosting the next World Cup, he asked, “Why should we not also bid for a World Cup together with other countries in the region. Kyproulla could stage a World Cup with Greece, Israel and Egypt, he said. This may be an “ambitious plan”, but he said, “we must set difficult goals.” Probably the most difficult goal we can set ourselves is taking seriously what our Prez says. It is a truly unattainable goal but it is good to think big like our leader.