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“That is just what we needed!” exclaims Politis. On March 27, Bank of Cyprus Executive Director Yiannis Kypri was ousted by the Cyprus Central Bank governor at the request of the EU-ECB-IMF troika. The day before, the bank’s chairman Andreas Artemis had handed in his resignation but this was rejected by the board.

This development in the country’s main bank, due to be restructured as part of the troika bailout plan, comes just as President Nicos Anastasiades announces “an investigative commission to seek out those responsible for the economic crisis,” writes the Cyprus Mail. “Investigation needs to go ahead even if no one is ultimately jailed,” headlines the daily, which concedes that “it may be extremely difficult to bring criminal charges against those who led the economy to the brink of total collapse.” The newspaper points the finger at communist former president Demetris Christofias, adding –

Is it a criminal offence for a president to be an incompetent and unintelligent populist, clueless about how an economy works, ignorant about the importance of the banking sector and determined to pander to the unions at any cost? The previous president, who would almost certainly be treated as the prime suspect, could claim, in his defence, he was protecting the interests of the working people. Would the governor of the Central Bank also be a suspect under investigation while remaining in his post and exercising his powers? He would repeat what he said during yesterday’s news conference, that he enjoyed the full confidence of the European Central Bank. And he could argue that everything he did was in the knowledge, and with the support, of the ECB.

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