TEN DAYS of non-stop public squabbling, accusations, grandstanding and wheeler-dealing were finally concluded yesterday as the newly-elected House of Representatives elected EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou as its new president. He edged out rival candidate – the president of the old House and DIKO leader Marios Garoyian – by a single vote, in what proved a civilised and good-tempered affair.
Yesterday’s vote in the legislature was a far cry from what had gone on in the preceding 10 days, during which the election of the House president completely dominated public life and the news. Even the Archbishop became involved in the bickering, prompting an angry reaction from Australia by President Christofias, who told him to keep out of politics. Ironically, while rival camps paid lip service to the need for unity, their words and actions completely undermined it.
It is doubtful that unity will prevail at DIKO, which is set to expel dissident deputy Zacharias Koulias, who proved the star of the show. Koulias had declared he would not back his leader for the presidency, in protest against the DIKO-AKEL alliance which he felt was harmful to the national cause; he believed President Christofias’ handling of the peace talks had been disastrous. His decision to vote for Omirou swung the contest in favour of the EDEK chief, and sparked calls of ‘apostate’ by DIKO colleagues, after the vote.
For many people removed from party politics, Koulias’ action was anything but reprehensible. He helped the election of a seasoned parliamentarian and put an end to the domination of political life by the AKEL-DIKO alliance that has executive power through the president. It is healthy for the legislature to be under the presidency of someone from an opposition party for the sake of balance. Admittedly, the House president has no executive powers, but his election was the result of an alliance of the opposition parties which, united, could exercise better control over the government.
Omirou is an honest and good man who will do a good job as House president, despite his tendency for verbosity, which he illustrated during yesterday’s acceptance speech. Outgoing president Marios Garoyian was gracious in defeat, and if he felt betrayed by Koulias he did not show it, congratulating Omirou and wishing him a successful term. He will return to his duties as party leader and have the unenviable task of keeping a divided party together.
The newly-elected legislature starts normal business next Thursday, but we doubt we will see another session as good-humoured and civilised as yesterday’s.
