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I maintain that Odysseas has no evidence to support his claims [Editor’s note: The author refers to a claim by former Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides, alleging that members of the government of the Republic of Cyprus had prior knowledge of a Supreme Court decision ruling on his removal from office]. Is this based on police information or simple logic? When this case inevitably collapses and he is exposed yet again, what will he do? I’ll tell you: he’ll likely send Fides again [Editor’s note: A wordplay on MEP Fidias Panayiotou’s name and a type of noodle pasta] to take this matter to the European Parliament as well.
Even if the former is innocent due to stupidity and the latter remains so until proven otherwise, the mere fact that such incidents flourish demonstrates that something is fundamentally wrong in this country. Beyond that point, it becomes a matter for experts. But how many can they catch? If 70,000 people voted for Fidias, consider how many others were prepared to vote for him but either didn’t turn out or voted for someone from their party. Fortunately, these voters also led in spoiled ballots.
The latter point is natural and therefore inappropriate to comment on extensively, much less mock, even when no one can understand why nature treated them so harshly. There must have been a reason.
These individuals and many others constitute Odysseas’s audience—our Robin Hood of fools.
One must have several screws loose to accept that all eight members of the Supreme Constitutional Court are compromised, particularly because they performed their duties. The report’s cited evidence comprises facts, not rumours like the unfounded claims that characterise Odysseas Michailidis’s political conduct.
We can debate whether the report’s language was harsh, but given the presented evidence, the emerging picture is clear and sufficiently… scary.
Justice is not heaven-made. Nowhere. However, one cannot suddenly conclude that all Constitutional Court judges are corrupt simply because the report was damning. Given the documented evidence in the report, only two types of people can accept this: the malicious and the foolish. There is no alternative. I repeat this without necessarily agreeing with the judges’ severity or the inclusion of certain cases that individually might not have warranted suspension. However, other instances reveal shocking behaviour and practices unbecoming of a public official, clearly rendering him unsuitable for office, as does the overall picture.
I maintain: it is scary.
I belong to a segment of journalists who were neither Odysseas groupies nor sworn enemies. Politis, where I wrote columns and hosted an opinion show, never denied me the right to disagree with positions the newspaper supported. Where I believed he was being treated unfairly, I said and wrote so. This created an uncomfortable situation—I felt I was undermining my newspaper and colleagues, though this wasn’t the case. More problematically, Odysseas and his surrounding clique had cultivated fanaticism around him. Anyone expressing the slightest criticism immediately faced attacks from a mechanism, a mob hurling insults and lies—an incomprehensible phenomenon.
Not that I’m unaccustomed to this—such people are always in my “client base.” Until I can make them understand that I don’t address them or conspiracy theorists of any kind, and therefore their opinions don’t concern me, and if they have problems, they should move along as I lack the time or inclination to engage, a few always get worked up.
This represented the greatest problem with Odysseas—something I consider far more serious than all the report’s findings combined, especially for someone who wants to govern anything, let alone a country. No one can or should trust someone supported by a gang around him who not only failed to distance himself from the brutality with which they ultimately savaged people, usually without evidence. There were incidents where Odysseas made decisions without examining evidence—and admitted it! Meanwhile, he allowed his clique to behave with genuine thuggery and brutality, making shameful and racist references while he kept his hands clean.
This exceeds all limits for someone who not only wants to become President but even engage in politics. When he was serving as Auditor General—because he was politicking then too—he operated based on what he did best: destroying people with cases and conclusions while “building” towards the Presidential elections. Worst of all, he supported entire narratives without a trace of seriousness on unshakeable arguments such as “someone told him the judges were corrupt” or “someone else told him the President knew since July he would be convicted,” for which he was called to police for testimony and challenged by the Supreme Court to provide evidence if he possessed any.
His massive ego probably prevents him from remembering what the entire legal community was discussing then: most said that based on the indictment’s contents, the Supreme Constitutional Court “would drag him down.” Others suggested they might spare him with a decision that would criticise him severely. That would have been political handling, given what they faced and everyone’s certainty about what would follow his removal. The other was the legal approach.
And I, for example, now tell you that Odysseas has no evidence. Do I know something from the police, or is this simple logic? When this case explodes and he’s exposed for the umpteenth time, what will he do? I’ll tell you: he might send Fides to take this to the European Parliament too, as he did after the Supreme Court’s decision that vindicated the President’s reference regarding the “Philippa’s Fund” [Editor’s note: The author refers to the Independent Social Support Body of the Republic of Cyprus presidency] law. Odysseas, like another Lord Denning, declared that a different procedure should have been followed.
I return to my original point and conclude. In a country where a large portion of the population isn’t in their right mind, it was a matter of time before a cunning populist appeared who would exploit this skilfully. I have no doubt he’ll convince enough such people and attract some opportunists. Not serious people, though. Time will tell.
However, the country’s future cannot be left to such combinations, to kangaroo courts, to conspiracy theorists, to eternal candidates, and to the unfounded claims of every Odysseas.
This article was first published on 23.05.2025
Source: WATCH HOW ‘INCOMPETENT’ WILL TURN OUT TO BE A COMPLIMENT
