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Before the elections, there was a growing tendency in support of Nicos Anastasiades, hoping that a new, pro-business president would get us out of the black hole created by the previous administration. Little did we know the real mess that the new government would be forced to handle.
Six months prior to the elections, the Anastasiades camp started to falter, by making grandiose declarations aimed at the business sector, but with little essence to build up confidence. For the sake of change, people chose a new president. At the time, businesses of all sizes had foreseen the trouble ahead and, despite the lies from the rulers at the time, the public funds were near-empty, Laiki had already passed the stage of no return and money supply was fast drying up. SMEs were already cutting back and mass layoffs were underway.
Then came the energy saga, a gamble that no candidate properly conquered. Is there gas or isn’t there? Is there crude oil? Is it worth the trouble digging it out? Should we sell future contracts? Now, we are swamped by know-it-alls and an overdose of “I told you so”.
It’s been a hundred days since we got a new president and everyone expects him and his Cabinet to perform miracles. Perhaps, that is the problem. Too much effort has been put into trying to solve our second biggest problem in 40 years and too little has been done to get the engine working again.
The Financial Mirror has maintained that if the core of the problem is the Central Bank Governor, then he should be sacked, no matter the cost in compensation and legal wrangles. Then again, the government’s advisors have been very slow to consult the president on what to do with boards of government-owned and semi-government organisations – what he should have done was to ask for everyone’s resignation and start from scratch, with appointments based on merit. The last reshuffle at Cyprus Airways was hardly inspirational and gives out the message that the state is happy with the status quo at the crippled national carrier.
To be fair, though, there was a tiny glimmer of hope in a change that had long been expected. The Cabinet agreed to change the name of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism to Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism in order “to give the appropriate weight and to better reflect the scale of the Ministry’s activities at home and abroad.”
But still no word about the Deputy Ministers that Anastasiades had promised us. Maybe he needs another 100 days for that.
