PARLI-PREZZIE ELECTIONS: viewing the DIKO TV advert this week, one is left bizarrely stunned. It seems DIKO are sending out a loud and clear message that the divine ethnarch Tassos Papadopoulos has been responsible for everything these past few decades. Everything revolves around the centre right party’s notion of populism and monopolising power. It’s almost as if they are the sole partner in the government, and the other parties, EDEK, AKEL, the Greens, and the Free Citizens Movement are completely irrelevant.
The advert reeks of selfishness and a lust for holding onto power. This is evident through the dominance of Tassos, who, let’s face it, is not running for MP, but likes always to give the impression that he is fully tuned in and in control.
These elections then, which will finally happen in just over a week, are illusive. On the one hand, people have the impression that we are voting for parliament, but on the other the President is campaigning blatantly for the centre right party that he still leads. This intervention by the President gives a conspiratorial feel to democracy, in that we are not really voting for MPs but determining whether Tassos Papadopoulos renews his governing pact with a majority of the electorate.
For more evidence of this, look no further than AKEL chairman Demetris Christofias, who moulded the political space for Tassos to live in. Christofias is holding on to the job of House of Representatives chairman – which means AKEL will not, as expected, be running a Presidential candidate. This also means other candidates from the governing coalition will not be standing for the same post as Christofias.
In other words, it’s all one big carve up. Weak then is the hand of any voter that dares fall for this populist trick a second time. People are sick and tired of such decisions being made behind closed doors without their full knowledge and via the abuse of democratic electoral processes.
ON EURONEWS and on rotation for the next few days, a feature on the elections features various party political persuasions including Yours Truly. It was an honour to do this. More info available on the website www.euronews.net. In contrast, local TV stations have underserved candidates from the localities. Yet again, regions such as Larnaca, Famagusta, Morphou, Kyrenia and Paphos have not been given as much coverage. Everything is so Nicosia and Limassol centric, revolving around seasoned party leaders and combinations that sell in a competitive viewing sense.
One such fine example of polarisation of the highest degree was ANT1 TV’s attempt at a ‘question time’ style big match between AKEL’s Katsourides and DISY’s Averoff. Both politicians batted sectarian diatribes at each other, leaving the studio audience, made up mostly of students and youth, with a whole host of unanswered questions on unemployment, police violence and the stagnant private university bill.
If only they spent more time listening to the questions and actually attempting to answer them instead of behaving like pit bulls in a make-believe dog fight.
ONLY A GAME: as a life long Spurs fan I was disappointed last weekend, but not to the extent that I went out down the street, lobbing bricks and molotovs at the first Hammers (and by default Arsenal) supporter in sight. Only in Cyprus has football become so politicised, tribal and inhumanely violent. The images we witnessed on TV this week of a 56-year-parent being brutally beaten in front of his son by violent APOEL supporters make me ashamed to say I am a Cypriot!
There is no one root cause for football violence – we can’t blame it all on the family, media, schools, peer pressure, or indeed the football club associations themselves. All of these and many other factors play a role. We can, however, blame the politicians for taking no effective action, which must begin at their very own doorsteps. The first move is theirs and it is the complete depoliticisation of football. What have Grivas or Che Guevara got to do with football? What’s the Greek flag or the dated Soviet hammer and sickle got to do with 22 people on a pitch in Cyprus?. It’s high time the politicians took an initiative to set an example instead of always fuelling the fire of extremism and division.
NEW DIVISION in Nicosia is where I will be spinning tunes tonight. Under the theme ‘tales of the StoryMan and beyond’, expect the unexpected and make no illogical requests. I like the vibe of New Division, almost like walking into some one’s huge living room with an even bigger music collection. See you there!
