Cyprus Police Chief Charalambos Koulendis departed on an official visit to Athens on Monday leaving behind him a dispute over the SuperSpecial stage of the WRC Cyprus Rally next month that has since erupted into a fully-blown row between the organisers and the Church.
In statements to the press at the airport, Koulendis said that he did not take any responsibility for the safety of the specific part of the event, not realising that such inaction on the part of the police could jeopardise the whole rally that could be struck off the World Rally Championship calendar altogether.
But the argument it seems had nothing to do with safety concerns – the Cyprus Rally has an impeccable safety record – as much as with the fact that it will coincide with the elections for Archbishop and that the SuperSpecial, to be staged in down-town Limassol as a spectator event, could prevent some 180 people from casting their votes at a specific polling station.
The Bishop of Paphos is adamant in the argument and has recruited other Church officials to have the SuperSpecial scrapped or moved, despite the location and dates having been determined months if not a year in advance.
He even referred to the Cyprus Rally as “unimportant”, fuelling more arguments.
The Cabinet too is divided over the issue as Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous tried desperately to defend chief Koulendis’ decision, while Commerce Industry and Tourism Minister Antonis Michealides, himself a veteran rally driver, argued that the government should stick by its decision to support the event and the police should do its duty to ensure safety.
Even the hoteliers are up in arms, taking a break from their harrowing negotiations to renew collective labour agreements with the trade unions that nearly resulted in strikes, to say that any demotion of the Cyprus Rally could cost the Limassol and Paphos leisure industries some CYP 15 mln in losses.
Unexpected support to the rally organisers came from the Bishop of Kition, who proposed that if the rally is scrapped and this becomes a political issue (Turkey is in line to clinch the rights to host a WRC event), then it would be wise to move up the Church elections by one week.
The focus of churchgoers has now been deflected to a new argument, far from the recent financial, land-grabbing and sex scandals that have plagued the Church of Cyprus.
