52-day action ends quietly as potato growers pull away
FACED WITH an unsympathetic public and the police’s no-nonsense tactics, farmers finally decided yesterday to call off their measures and sit at the negotiating table with the government, cancelling another planned march on the Presidential Palace.
Cooler minds prevailed yesterday as potato farmers cleared their tractors off a highway outside Larnaca, ending 52 days of protest.
The militant group, which has dominated news headlines for weeks, want compensation for a poor trade year and loss of income due to increased competition from the EU since the island’s accession.
But the government flatly denied giving out the cash, saying EU laws strictly prohibit subsidies; it has instead proposed a strategic plan for the viability of the potato trade, for which farmers have serious misgivings.
The decision was made a day after scuffles broke out between the group and police forces at a main highway junction, when 54 of the protesters were arrested. They had been planning to descend on the Presidential Palace to make their demands heard, but were stopped short by authorities.
Led by Nicos Vasilas, farmers’ delegates met yesterday at the Presidential Palace with Agriculture Minister Timis Efthymiou, Labour Minister Christos Taliadoros, Finance Minister Michalis Sarris and Under-Secretary to the President Panos Pashardis.
Apparently the farmers had requested a meeting with the President himself, but were politely brushed off.
Still, there were smiles all round as officials came out of the meeting, which contrasted sharply to the bitter comments and ill feeling between the government and the farmers over the past two months.
A pensive but smartly-clad Vasilas – usually seen in military fatigues – even managed to crack a joke with Agriculture Minister Eftymiou on the sidelines.
Though no statements were made to the press at the time, it’s understood the farmers have grudgingly agreed to discuss the government plan. But they’re leaving their options open, hoping they’ll get the cash they’re demanding one way or another.
Negotiations between the farmers, agricultural organisations and the government will get underway on January 9, and are expected to last three to four weeks.
Nevertheless, it came as a big surprise the farmers were now willing to consider the government plan, which does not provide for any direct financial assistance.
Trade unionist Michalis Litras gave some insight into the paradox, saying potato growers were hoping to achieve most of their demands through a structured dialogue.
“We don’t care what the baby is called, so long as the baby is born and is in good health,” he remarked allegorically.
And chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Christos Mavrokordatos, who is also a member of agricultural organisation PEK, was keen to play down the notion that yesterday’s development was a setback and surrender for the farmers.
“The [government] plan says farmers will get £3.5 to £4 million. But there’s no reason why they should not get £6 million,” he said.
All but one of the four main agricultural organisations welcomed the development, a throwback to the behind-the-scenes politics of the past few weeks, when the potato growers proved unable to rally the whole agricultural community behind their cause and had to go it alone.
Opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades played a major part in breaking the protracted standoff throughout the week, by brokering a meeting between the farmers and Efthymiou on Wednesday. But the meeting never happened, apparently because the minister changed his tune by the time he spoke on the phone with Vasilas.
“The tractors shall remain on standby at the side of the road, in the fields, just in case,” a spokesman for the group warned.
At the Rizoelia junction, some of the farmers played to the cameras, making the V for victory sign as their tractors rumbled off the road.
Their withdrawal took place under the watchful eye of the police, who by noon had made the necessary arrangements to free all four lanes of the highway.
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