WITH his question to the British High Commissioner, ‘why have those property owners not taken the developers to court’ (over the missing title deeds issue); Interior Minister Sylikiotis reveals himself as Cyprus’ very own Marie Antionette.
She; when told that the people were starving for lack of bread supposedly asked, why don’t they eat cake?
The difference is that whilst Marie simply failed to understand the problems of ‘the people’, Minister Sylikiotis understands only too well what the problem is.
However, rather than address it, he cynically resorts to the old tactic of blaming the victims of the scam for their own predicament – a predicament that is entirely due to the failings of past and present Cyprus governments and one that is totally beyond the control of the victims.
Having already conceded that he and the government are prepared to simply sit on their hands over the issue and do nothing; he then insults the victims; the majority of whom are his fellow Cypriots by suggesting that they themselves should foot the bill by entering into legal proceedings against one of the most notoriously protected groups of people in the country.
The Cyprus courts are not known for bravely standing up against such people as recent cases have shown.
Never mind that the Cypriot legal system is abysmally slow, inefficient and horrendously expensive into the bargain, its record of finding against the developers – and more to the point enforcing its rulings on the guilty after such findings – is dismal in the extreme.
In Cyprus, developers can truly be regarded as a ‘protected species’, one that the Cyprus government is prepared to protect to the last; not least because of the incestuous financial relationships they together enjoy.
It is for these reasons that Minister Sylikiotis can, and does, metaphorically stick up two fingers to the title deeds victims.
It is now long past the time when the whole issue of the Cyprus government’s refusal to resolve the title deeds problem; one entirely of its own making, should be taken up by the European courts, who, it should be noted, should they choose to do so, have the power to make the Cyprus government weep.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
