THE MEDIA-GENERATED hysteria against UN Special Representative Alexander Downer continues unabated. Journalists, asking Downer questions after yesterday’s meeting with President Christofias, kept returning to the matter, even though the Australian kept repeating the same answer. The UN did not comment on the contents of leaked documents or anything similar, he said, explaining that his only concern was to help the negotiations.
This was a sensible, diplomatic response that clearly did not satisfy the journalists. It would not have satisfied the rejectionist politicians who had been heaping abuse on Downer since last week, questioning his objectivity and suitability for the job of mediator. His continued presence in Cyprus was counter-productive, said a DIKO top official, while the EDEK chief maintained that he could no longer be considered objective. For the Green Party spokesman he was an ‘undesirable’, even before the latest story broke.
What was astonishing was the non-story that had sparked all this hysteria. In one of the many leaked UN documents, one of Downer’s assistants referred to the different positions on the peace talks held by members of the DIKO leadership. This was not classified information – the different tendencies are common knowledge because the newspapers write about them while politicians talk about them on radio and television.
Why was there such an angry reaction? Some politicians claimed that the views expressed in the document constituted interference in Cyprus politics, but nobody explained how or why. If a foreign newspaper carried a story reporting the different positions of the parties on a Cyprus settlement, would it be interfering in our political affairs, or would it be lacking objectivity?
There was nothing wrong with what Downer’s assistant wrote in the offending document. Nicosia-based foreign embassies send such reports all the time to their respective foreign ministries because it is standard diplomatic practice. These documents are not for publication, but departmental use. Now if somebody managed to hack into the UN’s information system, stole documents that were for internal use and publicised them did it mean Downer was interfering in our affairs?
Downer has been given a job by the UN Secretary-General – to help the two sides reach a settlement. To achieve his goal he needs information about the different political tendencies in each community, the public support each enjoys, the party alliances that exist etc. It is the job of the mediator to collect information so to make plans on how to assist the negotiators and help the procedure eventually reach a conclusion.
It does not need to be said that politicians who have been attacking Downer and demanding his replacement are the people who want the peace talks to fail. And as they cannot stop the two leaders from negotiating they have decided that the best way to block the peace process is by discrediting Downer and calling for his replacement.
