PRESIDENT Christofias will be making a rare public appearance on Monday when he goes before the one-man committee investigating the Mari explosion. We say rare, because since July 11, Christofias seems to have become a recluse, limiting his public engagements to the absolute minimum and avoiding coming into contact with people and TV cameras at all costs.
Before the explosion he pursued publicity with unwavering zeal, attending school openings, church services, social events and other assortments of ceremonies, and was always happy to make off-the-cuff comments about current issues to journalists. If anything, he overdid it, creating the impression that all he was interested in was publicity. Now, he has gone to the other extreme, staying behind closed doors and never talking in public.
It is obvious what has brought on this uncharacteristic aversion to publicity. Christofias does not want to appear anywhere, where there is a possibility of the indignant citizens ambushing him, demanding answers or shouting abuse at him. And he does not want to come into contact with journalists who might ask him uncomfortable questions about the blast and its consequences, in front of the cameras. Instead he has left to the government spokesman, the AKEL chief and deputies, the task of defending him and countering the relentless criticism.
While this may have been what his communications advisors told him to do, until public anger subsided, it is not the best policy as it has reinforced the widely held view that the president has been running away from his responsibilities, since the blast. He never accepted responsibility, as president, for the failings of the state that led to the explosion nor did he ever publicly apologise to the relatives of victims, on behalf of the state, lest this was interpreted as an admission of personal responsibility. The overriding impression is of a man who shies away from all responsibility.
Regardless of what the communications advisors may think, Christofias’ decision to go into hiding for the last two months can also be interpreted as a sign of poor leadership, an admission that the leader is out of his depth and does not have the fortitude to tackle the mounting problems facing the country. In Christofias’ case the cliché should be changed to ‘when the going gets tough, the president goes into hiding’. Did he think that with an insipid, televised address, a few days after the blast he had fulfilled his presidential obligations to the people?
The country was going through the worst crisis since the Turkish invasion – 13 people were dead, half the energy-producing capability had been destroyed, there was another downgrading of the country by a rating agency, the yield on Cyprus government bonds had hit alarming levels, leading international publications were reporting that the economy was on the verge of collapse and locally based foreign business were considering leaving – and the president had locked himself in his office, saying nothing.
Yet this was the time the people most needed to see and hear their president. We needed to be re-assured by the president that the government had prepared an action plan to handle the crisis. We needed to know that we had a president who was in control of the situation, unfazed by the many difficulties facing the country and capable of providing solutions. Now, more than at any time, he should have been out and about talking to people and boosting their morale. He may have been subjected to verbal abuse or barracking by indignant citizens, but he should have taken it like any leader, not afraid of accepting responsibility, would have done.
But he was nowhere to be seen. During the previous week’s incessant political feuding over the package of financial measures, Christofias remained in hiding, with nothing to say. He could have called on the bickering sides to show restraint, he could have stressed the need for sacrifices to be made and he could have given a positive message, explaining how the economy will be put on a healthy footing again. Instead, he washed his hands of the situation and left his finance minister and union bosses to battle it out with the parties.
How demoralising, when the country was crying out for strong leadership and direction, the president, unable to cope with the pressure, chose to go AWOL. Do we really need a more emphatic admission that he is not up to the job?
