THERE are only a handful of men left in DISY and the most courageous one wears a skirt. Kate Clerides is one of the last remaining members of DISY with guts and courage. The overwhelming majority, timid and spineless, have surrendered to populism.
Party leader Nicos Anastassiades, having won the respect of every sensible Greek Cypriot with his courageous stance in the referendum, is now weakened. Cornered in a party in which petty politics hold sway, with very few allies and most members being no different from the hard-liners of DIKO, he seems unable to follow his vindicated political line and maintain the party as a beacon of hope for every sensible citizen.
What had Kate Clerides said? A truth that is blatantly obvious to everyone – that President Papadopoulos does not want a solution. The leaders of EDEK and DIKO, Yiannakis Omirou and Nicos Cleanthous were outraged, as was the spokesman of AKEL Andros Kyprianou. This was pretty much expected. But for DISY publicly to disagree with her and timidly announce that “all political forces are working sincerely for a solution” beggared belief (Papadopoulos and Cleanthous working for a solution?).
I heard deputy leader Averoff Neophytou taking exception to Ms Clerides’ views on a radio show and grovelling to the AKEL leadership in such an obsequious way that even his fellow guest, Andros Kyprianou was shocked. Averoff and former foreign minister Ioannis Cassoulides are now only concerned about how they would take over the party leadership from Anastassiades and subsequently become president of the republic.
This is their primary concern. And they are currently engaged in a contemptible brown-nosing competition – one is flattering AKEL and the other DIKO. Cassoulides even accepted the role of envoy of Papadopoulos, who sent him to Morocco to explain the Greek Cypriot ‘no’ vote. Both hostages of boundless ambition, they are labouring under the illusion that, when they stand for the presidency they will win votes from AKEL and DIKO. Incredible as it may seem, this is what their political actions are focused on.
It is an illustration of how low a politician can stoop when he becomes a slave of his ambition. Partition is here, a third of the population have lost their properties for good, the Turkish army will remained in Cyprus indefinitely and they are thinking how they will become president of half of the island after three-and-a-half years.
I also heard Papadopoulos’ DIKO lieutenant, Cleanthous heaping abuse at Anastassiades because “he has no qualms about exchanging pleasantries with (Mehmet Ali) Talat and being photographed with him”. And this man, who considers it an outrage for Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot politicians to be photographed together, is working sincerely for a solution, according to DISY’s idiotic statement, issued in response to Ms Clerides’ comments.
But if there were ever a solution it would require politicians from both communities running the country together. How is it possible for people who consider being photographed with a Turkish Cypriot a crime, to want the re-unification of the island?
Just imagine Cleanthous and Papadopoulos being members of the federal state council. Could they govern Cyprus together with the two Turkish Cypriot members of the council, when they cannot even contemplate being photographed with them? And how wrong is Ms Clerides in saying that they do not want a solution?
But the issue is DISY. What has happened to the party is depressing. This was the party which 28 years ago, rose above the wishful thinking that passed as politics at the time and announced a pragmatic and rational policy for the salvation of Cyprus. Now that this policy has been vindicated, DISY has distanced itself from it. Now that even members of the Left have accepted the correctness of the DISY line and are voting for it, the party is betraying its history and beliefs.
Instead of acting as the vanguard of the campaign to save Cyprus from partition, the party’s officials have been timidly following the opportunistic policies of Papadopoulos who has left the Cyprus problem unsolved so as not to lose the presidency; and they bow their heads in shame in front of Cleanthous and Andros Kyprianou. Well, they may as well wear skirts. Maybe then they would also be able to display the political courage shown by Kate Clerides.
