DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades said yesterday the government’s decision to publish an explanatory leaflet on the nature of a bizonal, bicommunal federation was “better late than never”.
“You cannot support a specific policy and allow it to be demonised or for the positions to be twisted,” he said.
Anastassiades said the explanatory leaflet, which will be circulated with all Greek-language newspapers today, would help inform the public instead of allowing wrong impressions to remain in their minds.
“Of course the text is a general reference to the system of a federation, so that the people understand a state can be federal or uniform but it still doesn’t cease to be a state,” said Anastassiades.
“And that is what is important, especially in comparison to a confederation, which I must say does not today exist anywhere internationally, and nor can we accept it as an alternative solution to the Cyprus problem,” he added.
Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the leaflet, entitled ‘Cyprus and Federation’, was part of the government’s aim to inform the public regarding a bizonal, bicommunal federation solution which all Cyprus presidents had worked towards achieving since 1977.
The United Nations and world leaders have long urged successive governments to inform the Cypriot public about what a federation means in practice. Lack of information about the Annan plan in the lead up to the 2004 referendum was also considered a factor in the Greek Cypriot’s side overwhelming rejection.
“In this leaflet… It will record all the basic elements of a federation, the general characteristics of a federation, the differences a federation has from a uniform state and a confederation, as well as explain the basic terms that the public hears daily in daily discussions regarding the Cyprus problem,” he said.
“In other words what does bizonal mean, what does bicommunal mean, what does political equality mean and a series of other terms and issues that people hear daily.”
Stefanou said it was a leaflet that referred to the basics so that people could evaluate, judge and filter discussions on the Cyprus problem, as well as positions put forward on the negotiation table.
