By Jean Christou
Opposition parties left the National Council dissatisfied on Tuesday, complaining that President Nicos Anastasiades had merely briefed them on the negotiations process but did not engage them in any indepth discussions.
Most vocal was the Green Party, whose leader Giorgos Perdikis said the whole briefing was “superficial”.
“The [party] leaders can read more and better information in the newspapers or ask a journalist to give us some off-the-record information and we’re done, so why do we need to come to the President,” he said.
He said there had been no chance to ask for clarifications and questioned the very nature of the National Council as it stood today. The Council’s mandate is to act as an advisory body to the President on the Cyprus issue.
For members to be fully informed, they should be allowed to ask questions, give answers, and engage in discussion, he said, adding that the briefing they received was merely the President reading a text. “If I said that I came away informed from this meeting, it would be a lie,” he added.
DIKO leader Nicolas Papadopoulos said that although some people felt there was a good atmosphere surrounding the talks, this, he added was because “the only thing we are discussing is our own retreat”.
“If we continue like this I am all too afraid that they [the two leaders] will not end up discussing a process of give and take but a process of giving by our side,” he said.
“What also worries us is that devotees of a solution have been engaging in the last year in a campaign where they try to use the negative economic situation in Cyprus and the plight of Greece to impose a bad solution on Cyprus with the promise that this will solve all our economic problems,” he added.
Citizens Alliance leader Giorgos Lillikas said he had left the meeting with more questions than answers.
Though the President had been thorough in his briefing, there were no documents to examine to see what was really going on at the talks.
He said the National Council should act as a body of collective discussion and if given timely information beforehand on specific chapters, each party leader could help the President to better achieve the targets, and not only be treated to a one-sided update.
AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou came out of the meeting more positive than his peers saying the party welcomed the convergences reached during the talks between Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.
“Obviously there is some progress,” he said. “We are still in the initial stages of the talks and there is a lot of distance to be covered so we should not get too ahead of ourselves.”
Ruling DISY’s Nicos Tornaritis echoed his positive sentiments, saying the talks were “proceeding optimistically”.
EDEK’s Marinos Sizopoulos said it was too early to express a view as there had been no conclusions reached on key issues. “We still have serious reservations,” he said.
Demetris Syllouris, the European Party leader, also said it was too early to express an opinion. “We should wait and see the developments before we judge the process,” he said. “I cannot compare the progress, especially with the euphoria about the good climate, which can obscure various scenarios.”
Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides, responding to the parties’ concerns over a perceived lack of information from the Council meeting, said if the talks proceeded to the point where there was something the party leaders needed to know, Anastasiades could called a meeting at any time.
He said some of the leaders had raised questions and the President had responded.
“We are at the beginning of the [talks] process,” he added. “There is certainly a better climate… and we expect and hope that as things move forward and there is concrete progress, the political leadership will be briefed accordingly.”
He refused to be drawn on questions as to the substance such as the controversial issue of a rotating presidency, which the Turkish Cypriot side favours. “The positions of the Turkish side and our positions are well known. But we are at the negotiating table. This is why negotiations are being held to see if we can find a solution to the issues on which there is disagreement,” Christodoulides said.
