THE LAST four or five weeks was a highly enjoyable period for President Christofias. It was a period during which he put aside all the woes and stress of running a country and focused on the lighter, ceremonial side of the job.
He travelled to New York where he addressed the UN General Assembly, met the UN Secretary-General, was a guest at President Obama’s reception for world leaders, gave a speech to a Washington think-tank and opened an exhibition of Cyprus antiquities at the Smithsonian.
On his return, he took the salute at the parade and led the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Republic, which was followed by the state visit of the Russian President. Other distinguished guests also arrived this week.
Entertaining important visitors, travelling and attending official events are an important part of the job, but they could also be a distraction from the more serious affairs of state. Christofias gives the impression that he is happy to be distracted by his ceremonial duties as he does not have to think about the country’s problems, in urgent need of attention. It is almost as if he believes they would go away if he does not think about them, putting off tough decisions for as long as possible.
But time is running out on all decision-making fronts. His government has still to come up with suggestions as to how next year’s forecasted budget deficit would be reduced by an additional €150 million. There is no indication he has any idea what to do, bearing in mind that the proposed increase in corporate tax and a real estate tax had already been rejected by the legislature. He refuses to discuss the possibility of freezing public-sector pay, because he is terrified of the reaction by the unions, allowing the problem to fester.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is waiting for the government to inform it how it proposes to cover the €150 million, by the end of the year. Standard and Poor’s, the international credit-rating agency however, is unlikely to show such patience. It is expected to reduce Cyprus’ credit rating before the end of this month, if no decisions are taken on reducing the deficit by then. At best, the finance minister may secure a delay of the downgrading by a month. This could eventually lead to even higher interest rates than we are paying at present, which would be a disastrous development for the economy and the prospects of a recovery.
And it would be a direct consequence of Christofias’ insistence on putting off tough decisions. For the past 18 months, he has been completely ignoring calls for measures to reduce the public-sector wage bill, by respected economists, Cypriot and foreign, heeding the idiotic advice of irresponsible union bosses who urged him to increase taxes on wealth. This prevarication and indecision have destroyed business confidence, and now they could cause irreparable damage to the economy.
Christofias has been displaying the same traits in his handling of the Cyprus talks. He is terrified of taking any decision that would help the process move forward, because he would come under heavy domestic criticism. Surely he should have known this would happen when he agreed to the peace procedure two years ago. Was he hoping that the procedure would drag on inconclusively forever? Perhaps this was why he was fiercely opposed to ‘asphyxiating time-frames’. Without a time-frame there would be no need for him to take any decision that would provoke a political outcry by the opponents of a settlement.
With the international community now turning the screw, and demanding some form of agreement before the end of the year, he has found a new excuse for avoiding making a decision – he has concluded that Ankara was not prepared to pursue a deal yet, a claim he has been repeating at every opportunity. He is being very naive if he believes that by repeating this assertion, our side would escape blame-free from another failed procedure, given how he has approached the talks from day one.
When will the president realise that his job is not just about performing ceremonial duties? He was elected to take decisions, some of which would not be popular but to the benefit of the country. He was not elected to ignore problems in the hope they would eventually disappear. If he does not change his attitude now, the last opportunity for an agreement would be lost and our economy would suffer a devastating blow, from which it would need many years to recover.
