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WE HAD TO hear this – AKEL claiming that the president was ready to sign the memorandum and that the delays were entirely the fault of the Eurogroup which had a different agenda. When it comes to twisting the truth and distorting facts, AKEL’s propagandists are unrivalled.

They will quote out of context, omit important facts, misinterpret information and when all else fails resort to outright lies.

In blaming the delay in the signing of the memorandum, they have used all these propaganda techniques to arrive at the conclusion that the Eurogroup is to blame. The outright lie is that Christofias was ready to sign the memorandum. But Christofias had said on countless occasions that he would never sign an agreement that would stipulate the privatisation of the semi-governmental organisations. As the memorandum contains a privatisation provision how could his propagandists claim that he was ready to sign?

Then there is the small matter of the re-capitalisation of the banks, the final figure for which is still being negotiated. How could anything be signed without a final bailout amount having been agreed? And the reason it has not been agreed is because the government eventually realised that over-inflating the financial assistance needed by the banks was a phenomenal blunder. Now, the Central Bank which, on instructions from the government tried to maximise the banks’ requirements, has hired a second consultancy firm to help its case arguing for a lower re-capitalisation amount with Pimco. Is the Eurogroup or the troika to blame for this?

And while AKEL sees delays now, it was blind to the government’s filibustering last year. The troika had handed the government a draft memorandum at the end of July and government avoided beginning discussions on it until October, Christofias holding out in the hope that he would secure a loan from Russia instead. In mid-September, during a visit to Cyprus the then president of the Eurogroup publicly implored Christofias to engage in talks with the troika but he was ignored. In fact the president gave his consent to the draft agreement when faced with the danger of a bank run in mid-November.

There is a hint of truth in what AKEL has been saying. Even if a figure for the banks was agreed there would be no point in Christofias signing the memorandum now that he has only a few days left in office. The new president, who would implement it, should sign it and not the untrustworthy, outgoing president that has shown Europe that he does not keep his word. Of course none of this is ever mentioned by AKEL’s propagandists, who would have us believe that Christofias is eager to sign the memorandum, which he never wanted to sign, now that there is no chance of his being asked to sign it.