IN A SINGLE afternoon on Sunday, Greek Cypriot voters who ousted Tassos Papadopoulos, did a huge amount to overturn the negative image that Cyprus has developed over the past four years.
Some commentators have likened it to the Turkish Cypriots’ rejection of Rauf Denktash in early 2004, which opened the way for them to pursue pro-solution policies.
On Sunday, almost two thirds of Greek Cypriot voters cast their ballot for pro-solution candidates, one of whom was openly in favour of the Annan plan in 2004.
While it was unlikely that Papadopoulos was single-handedly responsible for 76 per cent of the voting public rejecting the plan in 2004, he did promise Cypriots a better more European solution.
Four years after EU accession there has been no European solution, no other kind of solution, and no progress towards a solution.
In fact it has been the opposite, and the perception has been widely held, not only abroad but among Turkish Cypriots, that Greek Cypriots did not want a solution at all.
In effect, the whole population was tarred with the Papadopoulos brush, and all efforts to persuade the international community that Greek Cypriot rejection of the Annan plan was not a rejection of a solution were like cries in the wilderness.
It’s no secret that the international community was probably breaking out the champagne on Sunday, although it remains to be seen how the newly-elected president will handle the next developments. This will not become clear until alliances are forged and a winner emerges.
One diplomat said yesterday that Sunday’s vote was significant in terms of re-engaging the UN on the Cyprus issue.
“Nearly 70 per cent of voters have gone for candidates whose selling point is the fact that they want to engage with the Turkish side,” the diplomat said.
“In terms of the international community, Greek Cypriots have made their point.”
He said how things would develop from here would depend on who the two qualifying candidates went to bed with, and how their stance would be diluted due to the alliance they would make to get support.
“But Greek Cypriots have proved they want a solution,” the diplomat added, likening Sunday’s vote to the referendum.
Analyst James Ker-Lindsay said the international community should heed the clear signal that Greek Cypriots still want a solution.
“In 2004, Papadopoulos appeared to promise that his path would produce a better solution for Cyprus. It hasn’t. In the four years since the referendum, Papadopoulos has failed to deliver anything on the Cyprus problem. Instead, his policies have managed to alienate the international community, hand Turkey a PR coup, and made the eventual partition of the island that much more likely,” Ker-Lindsay said.
He said that of the other two candidates, AKEL’s Demetris Christofias and DISY’s Ioannis Kasoulides, many observers in Europe would prefer to see the latter win on Sunday. It would help the island lose its reputation as the ‘single-issue member state’, he said.
“In the case of Christofias, there may be questions about whether his party’s ideology will have a strong, and destabilising, effect on domestic and economic policies. However, at this moment, the key focus of attention is obviously on reunification. In this regard, both candidates are viewed as an improvement on Papadopoulos. Either way, the result is a very positive outcome for those who still believe in a solution,” he added.
“Overall, the result will have gone a long way to restoring international confidence in the Greek Cypriots. However, there will still be a lot for the eventual winner to do to prove that they are indeed committed to a settlement. I think that observers will be looking for an early signal of a real commitment to new talks.”
Ker-Lindsay warned, however, that the international community should be wary about pressing too hard for some sort of immediate effort to restart talks. For domestic reasons, the new leader may have to act with a certain degree of caution, he said.
“If they appear to be rushed into a settlement, and have simply accepted whatever was put on the table, it could backfire. As well as showing the international community that he is serious about a settlement, the new president will also have to build up support amongst Greek Cypriots.”
