.
Recent violent events and an increasing rate of social disobedience is tarnishing the reputation Cyprus has had as an easy going, calm society, a factor that multinationals often take into serious consideration when deciding where to set up their next operations or remove an existing base.
Football hooliganism is on the rise, racist clashes with groups and individuals are becoming more common and disgruntled or frustrated workers are taking to the streets to vent their fury.
Although there are several reasons that lead to these outbursts, two key factors remain common denominators in all cases – family upbringing and society’s tolerance of bad behaviour.
Believe it or not, the police cannot be blamed for all the ills that happen in our communities, even though an impartial police force should hold many people accountable for breaking the law or trying to abuse the system for their own gain.
Case 1: Limassol football thugs caused havoc, once again, in the Tsirion stadium neighbourhood with the usual turnout of anti-riot police trying to restore calm. As a result an innocent bystander was harassed and beaten by a police officer.
Case 2: A peaceful demonstration in Larnaca got out of control when racist thugs charged on them and the police were unable to react in time.
Case 3: Frustrated Eurocypria workers staged days of protests and nearly lynched the Finance Minister, as if he was solely to blame for the demise of a badly managed company.
Case 4: A handful of thugs decided to take the law into their own hands and cleanse Nicosia of any foreigners.
In all these cases, the police may or may not have caught the perpetrators or instigators, but society is more to blame for tolerating such violent acts. In one case, one could argue that laid off airline staff will get a generous redundancy package, so what is there to demonstrate about? In another, however, it is the police that is setting the bad example and we still do not have independent inquiries into common cases. Worst of all, however, is when parents show up at their local police station, often accompanied by a relative or friend who is a member of the force, arguing that their son or daughter who has been held for beating someone, is, in fact, innocent.
Unfortunately, such cases do not inspire the greatest confidence among foreign executives, who could very easily suggest that Cyprus is as corrupt as any other nearby state and that investing in Cyprus would carry a major risk.
