Our View: How long till we can’t believe anything the president says?

Speaking on CyBC radio on Tuesday morning, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said he did not rule out the possibility that the announcement of the appointment of UN Secretary-General’s envoy would be announced on that day. It did not happen, a UN source informing the corporation’s New York correspondent later on the same day that it would be announced as soon as “the green light is given”. The source said bureaucratic procedures were delaying the appointment.

Was there a need for Letymbiotis to say the announcement could be made on the day he was speaking? Of course not, as nobody would have thought any less of the government if he said it would be made in the next few days or even weeks. Why was it so important to make a forecast for an announcement that everyone knew the government had no control over? Has the government learnt nothing from getting it wrong so many times? Over the last couple of months, President Nikos Christodoulides and his spokesman repeatedly announced the ‘imminent’ appointment of the UNSG’s envoy, even when it looked likely the Turkish side would turn it down.

It appears that generating what is perceived as positive news, even if it is not an accurate reflection of reality, has become the government’s trademark. The same happened in the case of Christodoulides’ frenzied efforts to secure the appointment of an EU ‘personality’ as envoy for the Cyprus problem; he had even mentioned the name of Angela Merkel as possibility, without her being asked. Nothing came of this despite the countless statements.

A similar narrative unfolded in the case of the oil giant Chevron, with the government assuring the public that all differences had been ironed out, which was clearly not the case. If they had been, Chevron would not, subsequently, have been given until the end of March to come up with a proposal the government would approve of. The likelihood the disagreements would persist cannot be ruled out, but this is not viewed as a possibility by the government.

There are other instances of statements being premature – cases of wishful thinking – like the forecasts of the Pyla agreement and the humanitarian sea corridor. The latest instance is the cabinet reshuffle which Phileleftheros was told would take place before the end of this month. Why has the president set a totally unnecessary time-frame? Will it reflect badly on Christodoulides if this took place in February or March, or is this his way of illustrating decisiveness for a day?

What these statements really illustrate is the amateurishness and political inexperience of a government that wants to generate positive news every day and create the impression it is in control. Does it gain anything from this superficial communications technique? Probably not and eventually it will lead to nobody taking the president’s public statements seriously. Is this what Christodoulides wants?