Attorney-General Costas Clerides has applied to the Supreme Court to lift the immunity from prosecution protection for MP Andreas Themistocleous (DISY), who was caught speeding at 172 km per hour instead of the limit of 100 km, said the legal services in a statement. The MP has not objected to the attorney-general’s move, and said he’s willing to face the charges.

There were a large number of tickets and complaints about the MPs lack of road safety, most of which were struck off, while others remain inactive until the end of his term. The MP is a threat to the public safety, as some of his tickets were for speeding at 190 km per hour, according to the attorney-general.

MP Andreas Themistocleous.

Immunity from prosecution for MPs is a hot issue ahead of the parliamentary elections in May 2016, but on a long-term basis it’s a big ethical and legal question no matter which party an MP comes from. Can anyone be held above the law in serious matters like road safety when there are so many dying in fatal accidents every year?

When he was pulled over for speeding, Themistocleous told police that he had immunity and showed improper behaviour, according to information from the prosecutor’s office, so it is obvious he is not interested in setting a good example. Yet he represents the Cypriots who vote for him and expect him to improve society through the political system, so shouldn’t lawful behaviour be a priority for him and all MPs? If an ordinary person refused to pay their speeding tickets on the basis that they are above the law, they’d be in jail in a heartbeat.

Another example of an MP who blatantly flouted the law is Evgenios Hamboulas (DISY), who posted photos of ambelopoulia (illegally-trapped migrating songbirds), but was not investigated or even censured by the authorities. This is possibly because animal welfare and environmental protection isn’t taken seriously yet in Cyprus, which comes from an agrarian society that has a very pragmatic approach to animals for food. But the heart of this issue is not just animals or birds for food, it is the fact that many of the trapped songbirds are endangered species that are dying out, and because the birds are killed very cruelly. Other than that, there’s a public health issue because the birds aren’t checked by health services and carry internal parasites which cause diseases.

Bottom line, God knows that nobody’s perfect, but the law is there for a very good reason, to protect society from the extremes of negative human behaviour, wouldn’t it be a better world if everyone was held accountable for serious breaches of the law, including MPs?

Legislative immunity was originally intended to protect MPs from being pressured into political votes from fear of being unfairly prosecuted, but applying this obviously worthy principle to a speeding ticket is stretching the spirit of the law to its breaking point.