“AT THIS moment the greatest possible unity and engagement of the political forces of the country are needed,” said AKEL chief Andros Kyprianou on Thursday. ‘Unity’ has always been a popular slogan for the government and AKEL, uttered whenever President Christofias comes under heavy criticism. The ferocity of the current attacks has sparked daily calls for unity.
The only snag is that neither AKEL nor Christofias seem to have any idea how this unity could be achieved, labouring under the illusion that if they repeat it often enough, it will somehow happen. There has been talk of forming a national unity government, but as this does not enjoy the support of all the parties, it has been replaced by the idea of a broader-based, more representative cabinet, supported by the two co-governing parties. The Council of Ministers would thus include individuals who did not come from AKEL and DIKO.
It is plainly daft to believe that the appointment of a couple of ministers not from these two parties would somehow restore confidence in the president, put an end to the nightly demonstrations demanding his resignation and forge unity. Things do not work in this way. Nobody doubts the need for national unity in these extremely difficult times for our country, but how would it be built when the essential ingredient for it – strong leadership – does not exist?
One thing that has been totally lacking in the three-and-a-half years of the Christofias presidency is strong leadership. We have a president who has consistently shied away from taking unpopular, but necessary, decisions, sweeping every problem under the carpet, instead of tackling it. The man is just not cut out to be a strong leader with vision, capable of providing a unity of purpose that would get the people’s backing and to help us tackle the crisis.
This was painfully evident three days after the killer blast when he addressed the people and failed to give us a clue as to how his government would deal with the worst crisis to hit our country since the Turkish invasion. Eight days after the blast he held a rally at which he spoke about the coup and the invasion, events that took place 37 years ago. Did we really want to hear our leader talking about the distant past and taking swipes at demonstrators when we are faced with a worryingly uncertain future?
The man is not even willing to adopt the language of unity, but somehow expects people, unquestioningly, to unite behind him and trust his choices which, so far, have been nothing short of disastrous. Yes, we need unity at this time, but Christofias has proved that he is not the president to provide it.
