WHILE addressing the 21st Congress of AKEL the President of the Republic promised to work hard in the direction of achieving convergences during the Cyprus negotiations.
I conclude from the particular commitment that the president’s objective is an agreed solution. If I read the statement correctly and if the goal is an agreed solution it is my view that by hard work the ultimate goal will not be achieved.
Hard work is not the tool for the solution of complicated and long lasting problems such as the Cyprus problem. Seemingly the President made the particular commitment because of the Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council.
At the New York meeting is was agreed to hold a new meeting between the leaders of the two communities and the Secretary-General in January. At the new meeting, as the Secretary-General says in his report: “The leaders should be fully prepared with a practical plan for overcoming the major remaining points of disagreement”.
The Secretary-General expects practical proposals for bridging all the outstanding points of disagreement. Inasmuch as the talks are Cypriot led and Cypriot owned, the duty to find practical ways to bridge differences rests squarely on the shoulders of the two leaders.
The points of divergence, from what the Secretary-General records in his report, are numerous and substantial. On the property issue the two sides puts forward their own principles and they remain entrenched in their fortified positions.
The same applies to the Guarantees issue. The territorial issue was not discussed at all. At the January meeting the leaders must put forward practical proposals to bridge differences. By March they must bridge all their differences and reach an agreed solution.
I am not in a position to know the president’s thoughts regarding the need to find a solution. I am not aware of the procedure which he has in mind to adopt in order to achieve his goal. The statement from the rostrum of the AKEL congress that he will work hard in order to achieve convergences does not prove that he took the decision to find a solution.
There is a big gap between convergences and an agreed solution.
It is rather a pretext for blaming others if the target set by the Secretary-General does not materialise. If by the end of March differences are not bridged, probably the president will seek cover behind his statement that he worked hard to achieve convergences but that Turkey did not want a solution.
In order to solve the problem what is needed is not hard work. It is necessary to reach a decision that the problem must be solved. Resolution and courage for bold steps are what’s needed. Flexibility and vision are indispensable. We must forget the past and face the future with optimism. Public opinion must be prepared for a solution. The leadership and the political parties must support the solution.
In his report to the Security Council the Secretary-General tells the president clearly what he must do in order to solve the problem…practical steps forward, not big talk of working hard and fighting battles.
The coning months will show if the president has taken the hint.
