Downer must be seen to be impartial

OPPOSITION leader Nikos Anastassiades said yesterday he has urged the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser Alexander Downer to be, but also appear to be, impartial.

During their meeting, Downer briefed the DISY chief on the Geneva meet between the leaders of the two communities and the UN Secretary-General, as well as on the progress of reunification talks.

But it appears the main purpose of the meeting was to discuss reports in the local media claiming Downer is scheming behind the scenes to force or expedite an agreement between the two sides.

The latest such report, said the UN envoy had tried to arrange a tripartite meeting in Davos between the leaders and the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso – claims Downer denied earlier this week.

Speaking yesterday, Anastassiades said: “I do not wish to comment further on what was said, but I have stressed [to Downer] the need for him to both be, and appear to be, independent.”

Last week Phileleftheros said that Barroso’s office confirmed Downer had asked for a meeting with the European Commission President – but it was unclear who would be taking part in such a meeting.

Asked whether Downer was insisting on his story which, according to the journalist, appeared to refute the European Commission, Anastassiades replied with a laconic “Yes.”

“There have been sincere assurances on the part of Mr. Downer that these reports do not correspond to reality,” the DISY leader added.

Meanwhile the European Party pursued the subject yesterday. Despite reports of Downer’s assumed transgression not having been verified, MP Rikkos Erotokritou called on the President to ask for Downer’s immediate replacement.

“The President must ask the UN Secretary-General for his replacement and also to raise the issue, once and for all, that we shall not tolerate Mr. Downer to continue undermining the Republic of Cyprus and its struggle,” Erotokritou said.

Downer later met with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in the north.

No statements were made after the meeting.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.