TURKISH CYPRIOT Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) leader Mustafa Akinci has called for the resignation of the north’s administration in preparation for fresh elections following the failure of the three major parties to form a coalition.
For almost two months Mehmet Ali Talat’s Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Serdar Denktash’s Democrat Party (DP) and the BDH have been seeking ways to form a broad-based coalition.
But efforts to form a 27-seat coalition in the 50-seat ‘parliament’ ended in failure earlier this week with each party accusing the others of insincerity.
“The real problem stems from the CTP. With every passing day they make statements that create anxiety among those pro-solution people who voted for them,” Akinci said, adding that he hoped Talat would soon become aware of the problem he was creating for himself.
He criticised the leadership’s approach, saying their policy in the wake of the referendum on the Annan plan was “limited in scope”.
“The government is simply seeking to end the isolation of the north. Parallel to this, it should also be seeking the creation of a civilian democracy”.
Akinci said he would not be attending further discussions with Denktash and Talat as a result of their refusal to share power with Akinci in return for his support.
He added that while he was willing to back the administration he would only do so if it were their policy to work towards dismantlement of the “military-civilian status quo”.
“I cannot join a government that seeks to perpetuate the status quo,” he added.
Akinci also accused the Denktash-Talat coalition of “hiding behind the Greek Cypriot ‘no’ vote [to the Annan plan] when they should by acting according to the wishes of the Turkish Cypriots who voted ‘yes’ to the plan”.
Akinci spelled out his conditions for helping form a working administration in a document that called for the Turkish Cypriot side to unilaterally implement elements of the Annan plan, including preparations to make territorial adjustments, and to seek ways to make the workings of the administration more democratic, more civilian and more active in seeking a solution to the Cyprus problem.
DP general secretary Mustafa Arabacioglu reacted to Akinci’s demands by accusing him of being insincere and said the breakdown in negotiations had little to do with the DP and CTP’s stances on democratisation and greater levels of civilian rule.
“Saying that this is the reason for the breakdown is not right. The BDH did not come to us with good intentions, that was the problem”.
Arabacioglu referred to the document presented by the BDH outlining its conditions for joining the coalition by saying, “Are we supposed to walk out of Varosha? Are we supposed to make territorial adjustments on our own?”
Arabacioglu said he had told Akinci that such moves could only be made in conjunction with the Turkish government and over a protracted period of time.
He also criticised Akinci’s call for implementation of the Annan plan’s proposed constitution in the north.
“If we implement it, what will happen to the TRNC constitution? Are we going to have two constitutions? Akinci says the new constitution gained validity after the referendum, but we don’t agree”.
CTP general secretary Ferdi Sabit Soyer said he could not understand why the BDH had pulled out of coalition discussions.
“Our protocol includes all the things the BDH want, such as further democratisation and the expansion of civilian rule, and the implementation of the Copenhagen criteria. It saddens me that they have abandoned discussions”.
Soyer said the most likely scenario was now an early general election in September.
