When almost every aspect of government activity is absorbed into a communications game - one that has now completely captured and defined policymaking - it becomes inevitable that any new initiative will lack genuine perspective or substance, serving merely as another attempt at public impression.
This is worth noting in light of the report by the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network (CIReN), which examines the reasons behind the failure of the government’s plan for the voluntary enlistment of women in the National Guard. The report pays particular attention to one of the President’s own arguments when he - taking even members of the Cabinet by surprise - announced in front of the cameras his decision to proceed with the implementation of this programme. The initiative, he claimed, would “constitute an important step towards consolidating the principle of equality and, of course, strengthening the defence structure of the Republic of Cyprus.”
In practice, however, the complete collapse of the programme has shown that the President’s claim of taking “an important step” was nothing more than empty rhetoric, another populist manoeuvre, characteristic of this administration’s approach to governance.
According to the findings of the investigation, despite the initially favourable climate surrounding the bill when it was submitted to the House of Representatives, it soon became clear that the President’s assertions about contributing to gender equality were entirely misplaced and unrealistic.
The report further highlights that the policy for voluntary enlistment publicly announced without prior planning, lacked measurable short-, medium-, or long-term goals. Moreover, institutions that monitor gender equality issues had never identified women’s voluntary enlistment as a priority or as directly connected to equality. Their focus has long remained on far more pressing concerns: discrimination in employment, the pay gap, inequality in career progression, sexual and gender-based violence, abuse, harassment, and victim protection, among others.
As such, this ill-conceived and ultimately failed initiative exposed the government’s deeply distorted perception of what truly matters in equality policy. It revealed a pattern: a presidency far more interested in symbolic announcements and quick headlines than in the sustained, structured work required to achieve genuine progress.
Ultimately, this episode reflects a President trapped by his own communication-driven approach - a political posture from which he seems unable, or perhaps unwilling, to break free.