A TOTAL no-show by Greek Cypriot politicians, party leaders and Cabinet ministers at an official event last Friday at the Ledra Palace to mark UN Day is confounding the diplomatic community and members of the public who did attend.
Cyprus has 56 deputies, at least six representative party leaders, and 11 Cabinet ministers, and those who are familiar with these well-known personalities failed to spot any of them at the event, they said.
In fact former President George Vassiliou was so embarrassed he penned a column about it in Alithia newspaper.
According to sources in the diplomatic community, the reasons being pondered include a possible oversight by all branches of the state and the possibility that the Greek Cypriot leadership did not want to share a cocktail with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat who was in attendance with his minions.
Other more sinister reasons being bandied about include the government and some of the political parties’ recent slamming of the UN for allegedly distributing American money to sway Greek Cypriots into voting for the Annan plan.
The row reached the highest level when President Tassos Papadopoulos insisted money had been given out without the government’s knowledge.
In this regard, could the powers-that-be possibly have known that UNFICYP Chief of Mission Michael Moller was planning to criticise the House’s inquisition into the funding during his address to the crowd last Friday?
Moller said the row risked poisoning the atmosphere for a new Cyprus initiative and issued a stern warning that it could undermine the commitment and willingness of the Cypriots to move forward.
Government spokesman Christodoulou Pashiardis yesterday denied that any of the speculated reasons were behind the state’s absence from the UN event. He said it was all just a coincidence that not one of the 11 Cabinet ministers managed to attend.
He also denied that the ministers had received any instructions from above to snub the UN. Papadopoulos himself was in Finland.
“There was no special reason,” Pashiardis said. “There was no instruction for any government official not to be present. It seems it was something accidental. As far as I know some ministers were abroad. Don’t suspect anything more than that,” he added.
However accidental or not, the diplomatic community is regarding it as a snub.
“No ministerial figures were present so I do think at a representative level the UN was snubbed,” said one diplomat who attended.
“This is a once a year event for an organisation that has been intrinsic to issues here in Cyprus for 40 years. All of the diplomatic corps was there. Talat was there. The question is, were they snubbing the UN or the Turkish Cypriots?
“They were conspicuous by their absence and it did not go unobserved,” said a second diplomat.
Former President Vassiliou said he had been very annoyed and extremely embarrassed.
“There was nobody there, not a single MP: no MP, no minister, no political leader, none of them and one should not forget it was the UN Day. We are supposed to need the UN. All the ambassadors were there and all the Turkish Cypriot community was fully there,” he said.
“Some people may have thought someone else was going but in my opinion it was a mistake by the government that they didn’t arrange it properly. The President was not here but he should have arranged for people to go there.”
Vassiliou said the Greek Cypriot leadership must have received their invitations as they were sent out individually by the UN but aside from that, as far as protocol is concerned, Papadopulos should have arranged to send someone.
“I’m not sure that this whole thing was not related to this silly campaign against the UNDP and the Annan plan,” said Vassiliou.
“I looked around and I didn’t see anyone and I know two things. First of all, their absence was noticed and they may say anything they like about it not being related to the UNDP, but for the foreign embassies they must have thought there was some connection.
“And I also know that in the UN there is a tendency in New York to start changing their attitude to problems that have been there for ages and are not moving. If we don’t show how much we respect them and appreciate them…if tomorrow they say they will go, or they will cut their forces, who will pay the price?”
Ironically tonight the government is hosting a social event at the Presidential Palace to mark UN day. Asked if they expected UNFICYP to be represented at the highest level, Pashiardis said: “Of course we expect them to attend.”
??
??
??
??
