THE PREZ’S better half, who likes to be known as the first lady even though there is no such title or public position in Kyproulla, has betrayed her low tolerance for criticism and mockery over the last 10 days since her pet cause was at the centre of the videogate public outcry.

Unable to cope with the bad publicity heaped on her personal charity the Independent Social Support Body, which was set up in 2015 to help needy students during the financial crisis, she announced her resignation as chairwoman last Sunday in a post on Facebook alternating between self-righteousness and self-pity.

“With sadness and particular concern, both my children and I, have followed a merciless attack, featuring the dissemination of fake news, defamatory comments and allegations of offences, from personal accounts, named and anonymous.”

That she was the wife of the prez, “does not constitute an excuse or mitigation for these groundless attacks and accusations”. She did not need official roles or titles in order to help, she said, “as long as we remain human beings who have God inside them and in life follow what is right and just.”

And then we had the Mother Teresa flourish. “As a mother I will always defend my family, as an active citizen I will continue to stand beside all children and the vulnerable that need me, silently, discreetly and selflessly…”

HAVING never been a politician, Philippa Chrisodoulides Karsera seems totally incapable of dealing with bad publicity. Whenever something unflattering is written about her she immediately threatens legal action against her detractor.

I should know, because our establishment received a letter from a lawyer writing on her behalf several years ago before her hubby had been elected. We responded that her lawyer was trying to suppress our right to free speech and no further action was taken.

In last Sunday’s post, however, she warned that she was seeking legal advice, while a few days later it was reported that her lawyer had written to a Nikoletta Tsikini, a leading light of the Odysseas party Alma, informing her that legal action would be taken against her for 13 posts considered defamatory by Ms PKC.

She is currently represented by the most fashionable legal eagle of Kyproulla, Achilleas Emilianides, who claims the 13 posts exceeded the boundaries of constitutionally safeguarded freedom of expression. Although we cannot repeat the content of the posts here, I am informed that they are insulting rather than defamatory, and the last one was posted seven months ago.

Someone needs to inform the thin-skinned Ms PKC that as the wife of the Prez, she is a legitimate target for all those lost souls who – unlike her – do not have God inside them and cannot follow what is right and just.

NOT THAT PKC is in a position to offer moral lessons. Her charity after all was collecting money from businesses and wealthy individuals who wanted access to the Prez and favours from the government.

This was exposed by the infamous video in which the director of the president’s office, who resigned on Monday, was filmed telling the investor to put money in the Independent Social Support Body to win government favour.

The fact that Social Support Body’s revenue increased by 10 times in the first year of Nik’s presidency from €260,100 in 2022 to €2,269,005 in 2023 raises some suspicions. Why had it suddenly become so popular? From 2015 to 2022 the average annual revenue was €525,750, so how did it increase by 400 per cent when PKC took over? Has she got a fund-raising talent or was God helping her?

And there’s another point which raised questions about the support body’s objectives. In 2024, financial aid totalling €1.6 million was paid out to needy students, three times as much as the average spent in previous years. Had the number of needy students tripled in a year?

Perhaps criteria for assistance were relaxed, because the body ended up with too much money (a surplus of €1.7min 2023) thanks to the increasing contributions of businesses and individuals that wanted nothing in exchange for their generosity.

ONE MORE thing. In last Sunday’s post, speaking about her charity, the thin-skinned first lady asserted, “there is absolute transparency and accountability, because “in none of the audits carried out by the auditor-general or private auditors appointed by him, was the slightest irregularity or illegality found.”

We are certain there was no irregularity, but the claim of “absolute transparency” is totally misleading. Keeping the names of the donors a carefully guarded secret is not even relative transparency. It is a total lack of transparency that Ms Prez fought for, urging deputies not to pass a law making disclosure obligatory.

And when the law was passed, her hubby showed his commitment to absolute transparency by refusing to sign it and sending it to the supreme court, which declared the bill unconstitutional. It was a funny ruling, but it safeguarded the absolute transparency Ms Prez so dearly values.

THE DIRECTOR of the president’s press office Viktoras Pap also made a bit of a fool of himself – admittedly not a task requiring great effort – by declaring that his boss had not seen the developer Giorgos Chrysochos, one of the stars of the video that boasted giving the government 250 grand every year, in years.

Chrysochos, the CEO of Cyfield which secures more than its fair share of big public contracts, had also said that his contact with the Prez was so frequent, “it’s like my girlfriend.” There had been no contacts in years, said Viktoras, claiming that the Prez had not even responded to the congratulatory text Chrysochos had sent him after his election.

Two days later, Politis published two pictures of Chrysochos with the Prez. In one picture, they were in conversation at the presidential palace and it was taken on July 25, 2025. In the second pic, (September 2025) they are watching a basketball match together.

Had Vik lied to protect his boss or was he merely repeating what his boss had told him to say about Chrysochos?

THE REDS were out in numbers two weeks ago to protest against the arrest of Venezuela’s President Nikolas Maduro by US forces. “Hands off Venezuela,” was the message of the Soviet era, Pancyprian Peace Council which does not oppose Russia’s war on Ukraine, while Akel said the intervention in Venezuela was “a threat to international law”.

On its front page Haravghi said the protesters “condemned the naked aggression of the USA and shouted in favour of the right of people to decide their future”. This was the general line of the virtuous Lefties, all of them ignoring the fact that Maduro had, by all accounts, stolen the 2024 presidential elections in Venezuela, when his rival won but he remained in power. I can’t help thinking that his removal from power was one of Trump’s more inspired moves.

ARCHBISHOP Georgios appears to have poetic aspirations. The Holy Synod announced on Thursday that he would be writing hymns seeking God’s help on the Cyprob that will be sung during the Good Friday Service. No more details were released but I suspect he will be asking the Lord for the withdrawal of all troops and a settlement based on international law, respect for human rights, and UN Security Council resolutions. Amen.