House approves code of conduct for MPs

The Cypriot Parliament on Friday finally approved a code of conduct for MPs demanded by the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption monitoring body GRECO.

Introducing a code of behaviour for MPs was one of the recommendations in GRECO’s report in the context of the fourth evaluation round.

The decision ratifying the Code was approved with 32 votes in favour and one abstention.

“The building and maintaining of trust in the state’s institutions and the broader rule of law is best served with the adoption of values and regulations of conduct governing the members of the House of Representatives while discharging their duties,” said parliament’s decision ratifying the Code.

Zacharias Zachariou, chairman of the House Committee on Institutions said the Code’s text was drafted to achieve consensus among all parties.

He said the Code provides for “political penalties” if an MP violates the Code, although there were suggestions it should provide a deduction of salary.

The Code governs the broader conduct of MPs both in and outside parliament, regulating issues of transparency, such as conflict of interest, declaration of gifts and paid trips abroad.

MPs had come under increased pressure by Greco after two senior MPs were caught in an Al Jazeera sting operation appearing to facilitate a Cyprus passport for a criminal

Chinese investor. Parliament speaker Demetris Syllouris and AKEL MP and real estate developer Christakis Giovanis— both of whom were exposed by Al Jazeera to be key enablers of the scheme—both resigned from their posts.

Cyprus dropped its scheme after Al Jazeera revealed how prominent politicians were willing to enable wealthy individuals with criminal records to obtain passports.

GRECO had recommended that MPs’ asset declaration should be more comprehensive while control over such declarations needs strengthening.

In November it said that out of 16 recommendations from 2016, Cyprus had fulfilled seven, six remain partly implemented and three had not been implemented.

Cyprus political parties on Wednesday came out in support of a woman who reported she was sexually harassed by a former Euro MP while openly condemning such behaviour.

Police confirmed that an investigation is underway into the woman’s complaint, in which she said a well-known politician and a former Member of the European Parliament assaulted her in 2014 when she was 24.

The case came into the public domain after the complaint was leaked to the press and on social media.

Ruling DISY MP Annita Demetriou said the state is obliged to safeguard victims coming forward with reports of sexual harassment so that they can talk freely for justice to be served.

Main opposition party AKEL issued a statement noting that sexual harassment is a plague that society as a whole and the state must fight.

“Allegations of sexual harassment in politics, which have come to light recently must be investigated swiftly and decisively,” noted AKEL.

AKEL called on the authorities “to proceed immediately with their investigation so that whoever is responsible is held accountable before the law.

“We also call on any woman who has been sexually harassed in any setting to file a complaint”.

The Democratic Party (DIKO), in a statement, said as a matter of principle, zero tolerance should be exhibited for such phenomena, regardless of the identity, even more so when politicians in a position of power are involved.

Cyprus’ Greens have called the police to take immediate action without allowing for any evidence to be pushed under the carpet.

The President of the Solidarity movement, Eleni Theocharous called on the President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades to take measures to protect the identity and personal data of victims coming forward.

Theocharous appeared concerned that the testimony of the woman reporting the politician was leaked to the press.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Gender Equality, Josephina Antoniou called on police to push ahead with investigations so as the risk of witnesses being pressured to alter their statements be reduced.

“Sexual harassment is a foul-smelling abscess that appears to infect many areas, poisoning the lives of many who have suffered it.

“The alleged perpetrators, no matter where they are located, must be treated in accordance with the prescribed procedures.”

The Commissioner for Personal Data

Protection called on Police to speed up the process arguing that authorities have been calling on victims to come forward, and the state should be in a position to protect them.

Allegations of sexual harassment have come to the fore in recent weeks.

Following Olympic shooter Andri Eleftheriou reporting an official last month, another five athletes have come forward claiming they too were sexually assaulted by those they trusted.

Police are looking into several incidents of sexual harassment with two cases involving the sport’s official reported by Eleftheriou.

Another case involves a track and field coach, for whom police have reports from four different athletes that he had sexually abused them.

One more case involves a basketball coach reported to have sexually harassed one of his former players.

There is a heavy cloud of uncertainty permeating the air even though the authorities are confident that Lockdown II can be eased out of the way in the coming weeks.

The pandemic has seen the economy carved into pieces to save and protect lives.

Some will say the sacrifice has been too great, with people losing their jobs while not knowing whether they will find meaningful employment in the months ahead.

And our national health system has been put under strain to cope with a deadlier second wave without knowing the cost of postponing routine surgeries or denying access to life-saving treatments.

As a society, we have become more divided, with the disadvantaged or frontline worker feeling the pandemic’s brunt.

Those who can work from home and stay socially distanced in open living spaces have been able to ride the bumps better.

Large swathes of the economy have been put on ice for almost 12 months. There is no knowing when night clubs will open again or other indoor entertainment venues.

Organised sport, especially for the youth, has been severely disrupted, rendering a hidden toll on our physical and mental health.

Attending live sporting fixtures has also been taken from us with few indications when people can become a crowd again, singing or chanting with one voice.

Social interaction is limited; the hustle and bustle of going out socially seem to belong to the last century.

Hospitality is another innocent victim of the pandemic that destroys social contact.

True, the government has had to make hard choices in sacrificing economic prosperity for public health.

It has been commendable, but now fatigue is setting in. There are too many unknowns that will have an impact further down the line because many aspects of our social fabric have been damaged.

Education has taken a bashing, vital classroom teaching time lost to a remote jungle where other learning obstacles come into play.

Those with a better internet connection, space, and a calmer environment conducive to learning will have an advantage.

Gone is the classroom as a level playing field.

Cyprus’ vital tourism sector has been smashed to smithereens, with much-needed tourist income unlikely to be flowing until July and August, with not much after that. Here to thousands of jobs may be lost for good.

Cypriots wanting to get away from it all are also unsure where they can travel this year or if they will be welcome. It was hoped that vaccinations would save the day. We could get jabbed and be on our merry way. Anti-COVID vaccines have been slow coming online.

All the wonderful slogans from Brussels about unity and solidarity have failed to paint over the vaccine distribution’s shoddy management across the bloc.

There was jealousy at the UK getting its act together without them.

Cyprus was tempted to seek a helping hand from Israel, another country effortlessly vaccinating its population at speed.

The EU has managed to create COVID nationalism by proving we are not in this ‘together’.

Even with ample COVID vaccines, the world remains unpredictable.

Time will tell if the coronavirus gets tired of mutating into a monster that takes prisoners or settles for becoming a seasonal irritant like the common cold.

Once vaccinated, there is no certainty that it will be the end of the sad story.

With potent variants spreading their wings, it might necessitate booster shots for certain groups of the population.

Science has yet to figure out whether people will need to get vaccinated every year or so.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility that instead of passports and ID card, we will be obliged to carry vaccination certificates for work or travel.

Our COVID status could become the hierarchy that opens doors in the workplace or allows us to travel freely.

Many of us would love to go back to normal, but it’s difficult to fathom what that means anymore.

Before we realise what has happened, the labour market will become a completely different animal where your home is your office.

Cities will become less centralised without a commuter workforce to cater for; the business model will have to undergo a refit, as will our outdated education system. COVID-19 has shown us the future.

It will wait for us to get out of bed, draw the curtains, go to the gym, and put our game face on.

We were caught with our technological pants down, unskilled, unprepared for the digital leap forward.

Science came to our rescue.

Although when we get dragged off the pandemic lifeboat and walk ashore, where is the technological know-how to rebuild a new society?