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With just a few hours left before the new boards of semi-government organisations are expected to take over, we remain disappointed by the pace of events and the lackluster choice of names to head these bodies.
The ruling DISY party thought it was being smart by washing its hands of any involvement in the process, much to the chagrin of its membership that saw junior coalition partners DIKO push ahead with their own list of candidates as part of the votes-for-seats deal, regardless of merit or the general good of the nation. The smaller centre-right party, that needs to create a fresh identity for itself now that a new-generation leader has taken the reigns, has also avoided any responsibility in the choice of chairmen for SGOs that will need to undergo fast-track privatisation. In effect, DIKO has opted to stay barely inside the coalition, but is not openly supporting President Anastasiades’ privatisation plans, in case it upsets the strong support base within the state-owned telco Cyta and the Ports Authority. On the other hand, realising that the Electricity Authority will be spared from de-nationalisation (for now) DIKO has been pushing for one of its own to head the EAC.
Despite the rhetoric that it was time we saw change and that this should begin with the appointment of new SGO members based on merit (or their relevance to the areas of activity), it seems hard to contemplate the president’s logic when choosing the names. We have said this before and would like to repeat some examples: the EAC needs someone in charge who knows quite a bit about the current and future energy challenges at home and abroad; the new Cyta chairperson ought to be somewhat tech-savvy and be abreast of hi-tech developments; the Ports Authority ought to have someone who is aware of shipping and international trade; the CTO must have a dynamic team that will push the ‘Cyprus’ brand back into the limelight of most preferred holiday destinations; and so on, while other bodies destined to be wound down should have technocrats put in charge with a specific deadline of just a few months, if not weeks.
Talk about deadlines, any light at the end of the casino tunnel Mr President? Or is that yet another dead duck?
