• Questions about the report’s broadest “category”

• Anita and her eulogy for the former

• Pheidias’s grand mission to Athens

• Barou’s sleeping bag and Diana’s spray

What a great day. Just once, let’s do something right. Just once, let’s do something and see it through to the end. Never! The team of criminal investigators was announced, and before the Government Spokesperson had even finished speaking, we realized there was a problem. One of them—he says—will be recused from the Focus case. Hey, guys, do you realize what just happened? Former President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has been charged by the Anti-Corruption Authority with abuse of power—a felony—in the Focus case! It was the most serious charge, and right off the bat, we have a problem with it.

• The irony is that the government’s subsequent statements only made matters worse. “They knew about it,” Mr. Letympiotis told us, “and decided that the investigator in question would be recused from this specific case.” Seriously, are they being serious? They knew it and decided that he, too, would recuse himself from the most serious part of the report? How much worse can things get?

• The one good thing for them at the Presidential Palace is that they have Anita on their side. She, one day before the criminal investigators were announced, saw fit to sing the praises of Nicos Anastasiades. He is not attending the event marking DISY’s 50th anniversary and announced his “self-exclusion” from the party’s leadership “until the truth comes to light.” And in doing so, Anita essentially announced her candidacy for the 2028 presidential election. You can’t call that wise.

• They hugged tightly, kissed, congratulated one another, and… now the hard part begins. Anita Dimitriou and Averof Neophytou will face off in the party’s internal procedures to secure the presidential nomination. And Averof, hailing from Argaka, has begun setting up his campaign by first creating his own channel on WhatsApp. And I’m told there’s much more to come from him in this campaign.

• I’ve heard, however, that there’s a lot of grumbling and conflict within DISY over the failure in Aglantzia. And some attribute it to Annita’s decisions. Whatever happens within DISY, one thing is certain: AKEL has scored yet another victory and is maintaining the atmosphere of optimism created by the parliamentary election results.

• Let’s turn briefly to the Cyprus issue, where developments are moving quickly. But they’re being driven by others. Because, if it’s indeed possible for something serious to emerge, I wonder how difficult it was for the President of the Republic to attend Sevkül Uludag’s farewell ceremony and send a message of hope and renewed engagement with the other sideside? He attends all the university graduation ceremonies here, all the events across Cyprus, and didn’t think this would be an important gesture on his part? And we’re talking about a person (Sevkül) who has dedicated her entire life to peace in Cyprus and to healing the wounds of the past. “Small print,” you might say.

• On the contrary, our President found the time to comment in the Sigma studio on the progress of the World Cup, the teams that… are playing better, and the tournament’s favorites and underdogs. And to cap off this politically tasteless appearance, he even floated the brilliant idea that Cyprus, Greece, and Israel should jointly host a World Cup someday! Mr. President, we’ve said you’re prone to speaking off the cuff, but this went way beyond the pale.

• At the same time, only one part of Olgin’s remarks stood out to those in the presidential office, and they were trying by every means to pass it on to the journalists. The one referring to “the important role the EU can play.” However, they deliberately omitted several other remarks, such as, for example, that the Secretary-General and she herself aim “not merely to initiate a process but to bring it to a successful conclusion,” that “generosity” is needed, and that “there is misinformation,” that “there is fear that the path to a solution might be opened,” that “powerful forces are emerging that wish to maintain the status quo,” and that “the realities on the ground have changed substantially.” No one commented on these statements.

• Which journalist is preparing to move from Cyprus to Greece on a very important mission? We won’t name names, but the mission is so serious that we must reveal it so the nation knows where we’re headed. He says he’s going there to establish the sister party of Direct Democracy! It will seek out the equivalent of Phidias among the TikTokers of the motherland, in complete coordination and consultation, of course, with the “great leader” here. I believe that the “unified doctrine of pasiamas” is the only thing that represents us.

• To give you an idea of what’s going on in Parliament with the kids of Direct Democracy, let us mention two incidents: Our Diana, aside from promoting her clothes and the cake she brought them there (which she made with her own two hands) for her birthday, she’s been making the rounds in committee meetings with a facial mist spray. The funny thing is that she even sprayed poor Panikos Leonidou of DIKO, who had no idea what hit him. The notorious Dimitrios Baros followed his leader’s example and was sleeping at the party’s offices in Parliament. Until Anita found out and kicked him out. We’ve still got a lot to see.

• But since we’re on the subject of Parliament, we were struck by the behavior of Odysseas Michaelides, who, during the Institutions Committee meeting, would stand up and whisper in the ears of Irini and Paraskevas, telling them what to say. Sure, Paraskevas is young, but does Irini really need to be told what to say in order to express an opinion? But what can we say now that Odysseas’s first substantive parliamentary act was to clash with his successor at the Audit Office? And on an issue he himself used to be very sensitive about: the independence of the Audit Office!

Have a good Sunday. And get ready—another report is coming, this time on “videogate.” The extension expires on July 20, and the coincidence of the timeline with these dark anniversaries probably serves to show us just how badly things went and how the shock of the invasion and theoccupation did not make us a little more serious, a little more modest.