By Martin Hellicar
GOVERNING Disy’s drive to raise the threshold for parliamentary representation is alienating junior government coalition partners the United Democrats (UD) and also appears to be raising eyebrows within the Presidential Palace.
Right-wing Disy is pushing ahead with tabling a bill amending electoral law so that a party has to get at least four per cent of the vote in any parliamentary elections before it is allowed a seat in the 56-member House of Representatives. The current system is one of true proportional representation, with a much lower entry threshold of 1.79 per cent.
Disy says the change is needed to prevent politicians with no electoral backing from having a seat on the President’s top Cyprus problem advisory body, the National Council. The smaller parties – like UD, New Horizons, and the Greens – see the Disy move as a blatant attempt to squeeze them out before the May 2001 parliamentary elections.
In the last parliamentary elections, in May 1996, the UD won only 3.69 per cent of the vote and two seats. The Greens and the New Horizons failed to make the grade, garnering only 1 and 1.71 per cent of the vote respectively. Disy, meanwhile, won 34.47 per cent of the vote, while left- wing Akel got 33 per cent, centre-right Diko 16.43 per cent and Edek 8.13 per cent.
The four larger parties appear to favour Disy’s proposal, but introduction of the four per cent threshold could spell political death for these smaller parties.
George Vassiliou, the leader of UD and the island’s chief EU negotiator, was not about to take this lying down.
Yesterday, he brought the matter up in his regular weekly meeting with President Clerides at the Presidential Palace. In statements after the meeting, Vassiliou made it plain that Clerides – though honorary president of Disy – was not about to back the governing party at the risk of loosing his government coalition partner.
“The president does not agree that there is a need to change the electoral law,” Vassiliou stated.
“The president has authorised me to say that for the government there is no issue of changing the (electoral) law. The government’s position has already been expressed by the government spokesman and is that if the government wants to have a change it will do it, but for the time being there is no such issue.”
“The law we have today is the most democratic, it is the law which serves the interests of Cyprus and the presidential system and must not change,” Vassiliou added, denying suggestions that he was only after saving his party’s skin.
But Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday appeared unconcerned about treading on the toes of either Clerides or Vassiliou. He launched into a vigorous defence of his party’s proposed change to the electoral law and insisted the aim was not steal votes from the smaller parties.
Anastassiades said his party would win the next elections hands-down and did not need to “adjust” the electoral system to do so. He said it was the proposal’s detractors who were guilty of acting in a self-serving manner: “They have ulterior motives – either they want to get into parliament or they want to control others.”
The Disy leader insisted that all the major parliamentary parties supported the Disy law change. But main opposition party Akel later issued an announcement supporting true proportional representation and condemning Disy efforts to “fiddle” the electoral system.
Diko, however, does appear to support the Disy move. Diko deputy Zacharias Poulias came up with a colourful defence of the Disy proposal yesterday. “The current system is a measure to ensure a husband-and-wife team get into parliament,” Poulias protested, referring to the fact that George Vassiliou and his wife Androula were the two UD deputies elected to parliament in 1996.
Diko parliamentary spokesman Tassos Papadopoulos – piped by many to succeed Spyros Kyprianou as party leader – has attacked the upping of the entry threshold, but he appears to stand alone in the party.
