IT’S BEEN a long-time brewing but parliament finally passed a resolution censuring UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer on Thursday, around seven weeks before he drafts a crucial report on the status of the peace process.
That report will decide whether the two leaders go to an international conference for the “end-game” or the UN Good Offices pack up their bags and leave –assuming they can of course. Being branded an “undesirable” does not necessarily get you a ticket home.
DIKO, EDEK, the Greens and EVROKO tried to pass amendments declaring Downer a persona non grata but cooler heads prevailed among the two main parties DISY and AKEL.
Instead, Downer was unanimously censured for “undermining” the Cyprus Republic and making “lop-sided and damaging statements” which go against UN resolutions on Cyprus.
MPs called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to “restore” the special advisor’s “objectivity and trustworthiness” though no clear guidelines were given on how the South Korean might go about it.
During the debate, Greens deputy Giorgos Perdikis told the Australian to “go home” while independent MP Zacharias Koulias accused him of operating as “an ambassador for the Turks”.
According to EVROKO leader Demetris Syllouris, Downer should never have been allowed to come to Cyprus in the first place.
“He is clearly promoting the positions of Turkey and leading the Cyprus problem to an end which favours Turkish interests. We do not want a second Greek Cypriot ‘no’ but any plan which clearly serves the interests of Turkey like the Annan plan did will not pass,” he said.
International relations expert Hubert Faustmann said the resolution was clearly for domestic consumption.
“They’re just scoring points against Downer. UN mediators are the most popular lightening rod for nationalist outbursts. Anybody who tries to solve the Cyprus problem is a target,” he said.
“In substance, we are in a pre-election period. They know the negotiations will end in disaster. Either the process will lead to an international conference and fail or Ban and Downer will try to pull out and likely fail. Whatever happens will be seen as a failure to the Greek Cypriot public, so the politicians are posturing and trying to score points among the more hardline segments of the population,” he added.
A diplomatic source said the attacks on Downer were “pure deflection” and showed how “bankrupt the process now is when you start attacking the UN”.
“They are trying not to face up to the reality of having a stalemate,” he said.
“Internationally, it’s considered absurd. Technically, you could ask to replace Downer, but the UN will then turn around and say, ‘well ok but you’ve complained about every single envoy before him so what do you want?’,” he added.
A government source said the effort in parliament was an attempt to harm the peace talks.
“They’re targeting the process, not Downer,” he said.
“They’re acting as if the Cyprus problem was created yesterday and we have all the time in the world. As if we have no experience of what is or is not feasible. We’re talking about 37 years of repeated failures,” he said.
Another political source who did not wish to be named said the island was getting closer than ever to permanent partition, arguing that the rejectionists were manoeuvring so they could put the blame squarely on President Demetris Christofias.
Failure or not, Downer now joins a long list of UN officials considered “not very nice”; a list compiled by Cypriots throughout the long history of the Cyprus problem which, like the fate of the Universe, has no universally agreed beginning or end.
Almost every UN official who has ever worked on Cyprus has at some point fallen foul of one side or the other. The former UN Secretaries-General Perez de Cuellar, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan all lost favour with the Greek Cypriots, as did special representatives, envoys and advisers Oscar Camillion, Gustave Feissel and Alvaro de Soto to name a few.
The irony being that the only institution Greek Cypriots have ever accepted to lead efforts for a solution of the Cyprus problem is the UN.
They are not alone, however, in pillorying UN mediators.
In 2006, the Turkish Cypriots accused UN Special Representative Michael Moller of being pro-Greek Cypriot. Ferdi Sabit Soyer said: “We have started to see Moller as a Greek Cypriot and not as a UN representative.”
Peruvian diplomat de Soto also fell foul of Turkish Cypriots in 2003 when the former leader Rauf Denktash charged him with ignoring the realities, failing to research the causes of the Cyprus problem, and accepting “the Greek Cypriot government’s position to control the whole island”.
De Soto soon found a balance when he presented the final version of the Annan plan for referenda in 2004, drawing the ire of the Greek Cypriot ‘NO’ camp.
“Unfortunately, the Greek Cypriots did not avail themselves of the unprecedented opportunity offered by the framework provided in Burgenstock,” said de Soto.
UN officials are not the only ones attracting the wrath of Cypriot politicians. Britain’s former special envoy David Hannay drew fire from all Cypriots. Denktash believed Hannay was biased towards the Greek Cypriots while the latter attributed the hated Annan plan to his authorship. Both sides agreed however that he behaved like a “snobbish colonial governor”.
Speaking to the Sunday Mail from Paris, de Soto said: “One of the things I was told when I started in late 1999 was that eventually this happened to pretty much everyone. I was told first, the press will start behaving swinishly with any envoy, representative or adviser, and then, the rejectionist parties will start to undermine the UN chap.
“I was told this was standard practice. I don’t think anyone was surprised (when it happened),” he said.
The Peruvian said he tried to engage the more critical segments of the media, talk them through the process and provide them with background but was met with “palpable hostility”.
Asked if the latest attacks on Downer might affect his work, de Soto said his long spell as an Australian MP would have prepared him well for any rough and tumble in Cyprus: “Australia is famous for having one of the toughest parliaments on the face of the earth.”
But why does every mediator/facilitator end up in the crosshairs of mostly Greek Cypriot politicians and media?
“Critics probably don’t want to approach the end game. If they don’t have a substantive plausible argument against coming to terms with that, it’s not surprising politicians will find other ways to undermine the process,” said de Soto.
The former special adviser said Greek Cypriots were probably now going through a period of “internal reflection” as Annan suggested they do in his 2004 report.
“Do they really understand what a federal solution means? Political equality? Shared power at the centre? Have they asked this question? If they don’t accept these things, they should come out and say so.”
More and more outside observers familiar with the Cyprus problem are suggesting that Greek Cypriots are not prepared to accept the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979 signed by Makarios and Spyros Kyprianou respectively with Denktash. The agreements stipulate the basis for a solution as being a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
“These are just labels. What matters is the content,” said Syllouris who argues the National Council’s unanimous decision of September 2009 should be the basis for any solution. As the last joint statement agreed by party leaders, it calls for the complete removal of all settlers, armi
es and guarantees, and the implementation of the EU acquis, four freedoms and full human rights across the island.
“Does this mean the National Council is unanimously against a bizonal, bicommunal federation?” he asked.
A loaded question but a good one.
Yesterday marked the 58th anniversary since the UN got involved in Cyprus. During one of those years, an experienced UN official told a new colleague to Cyprus: “You understand that this is not really about solving the problem, because you can’t solve it, it’s about managing it.”
Many UN officials have failed to heed those words and tried in vain to break the back of this ageing conflict, Ban and Downer included.
Reports suggest they’ve had enough and want out but according to Faustmann, now is not the time for closure.
“Why does the international community want a solution now? Tactically, it’s a wrong move and a bit fake really. I can understand the frustration of Ban and Downer if you look at the progress in the last two years; a snail is faster in comparison. But I don’t believe the domestic setting with Christofias’ unpopularity is ripe for a solution. At the same time, the EU carrot of Turkish accession is dead and Turkey is already moving towards a Plan B.
“It will be a disaster if we get a second Greek Cypriot ‘no’. This gives Turkey a free ride for the Taiwanisation of the north. Everybody knows a solution is the best way out for everyone, particularly with the introduction of hydrocarbons,” he said.
“There will be better chances for 2013 with a stronger leadership,” he added.
Ironically, the only way a compromise solution can pass in the Greek Cypriot community is with the support of the two biggest parties and sworn enemies, AKEL and DISY.
Could their brief collaboration in parliament last Thursday to prevent parliament from seeking Downer’s removal in the eleventh hour be a precursor to a new alliance for a new era?
Not likely.
