EDITORIAL: Power to the people…

 

The present stand-off between the Trade Minister and the government-appointed board of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus has brought to the fore a matter of great urgency, as in the past state agencies and companies owned by the taxpayer were often held hostage to the whining of trade unions thirsty for power.

Now, the roles have changed and you have the trade unions standing up in the defense of the utility, alleging that the minister in charge of energy has schemed up some dubious plan that will benefit a privileged few to the detriment of the public consumer.

Furious that he hasn’t got his way, the Minister, adamant on installing a floating, untested LNG terminal, wants the EAC board and its competent chairman to resign. This is sort of like the days when administrations would change in Greece as often as we had a village festival and boards would assume or quit almost on a weekly basis, causing havoc to the operation of those corporations.

In order to avoid such clashes in the future that could easily escalate into a paralyzing strike, any new administration elected next February will have to proceed with the rapid corporatisation and even partial or full privatization of a number of public services and utilities.

It is ironic that the government that wants to safeguard the pensions of the workers in civil service and large private organisations, has banned the Social Insurance Fund from investing in public companies in Cyprus, but allows overseas investments. The privatization, partly or fully, of many utilities would offer sound and secure investments for the Fund without having to rely on crooked go-betweens who will fleece the retirement funds.

The change of the status of the public corporations would also mean that even if the government holds a golden share or even a majority control over that company, it could not have a direct say in the daily business of that utility, unless it was of vital national interest.

Thus, board members would have to be elected to manage an efficient company, while the risk of appointing relatives or fellow supporters in exchange of favours would slowly diminish due to the implementation of good corporate governance rules that come hand-in-hand with any company going public.

Furthermore, blatant attempts to corrupt a board member or its whole would become difficult as transparency would replace secretive board meetings, while accountability to the public, through parliamentary control or shareholders’ meetings would do away once and for all with any meddling.

Now, let’s see if any of the budding candidates would be willing to discuss this issue.