So much to do before the referendums

AS THE people of Cyprus toil and trouble over the future of the island, a great deal of work remains to be done to prepare for the April 24 referendum.

Both President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash have come out keenly against the Annan plan, yet both sides remain obliged to take a list of preparatory measures in the run-up to the vote.

Asked yesterday if his call for a ‘no’ vote would affect the preparations of the Greek Cypriot side, Papadopoulos replied: “We will continue to fulfil all the obligations we have undertaken”.
The two sides have until April 22 to refurbish and prepare the federal buildings agreed or suggested by the UN Secretary-general on March 31, with the work overseen by the federal buildings committee established by the two leaders and chaired by the UN.

Both sides were expected to hand in their proposals for members of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank by yesterday or let the Secretary-general make “indispensable suggestions” on the matter. Where the two sides fail to take measures in time, the UN has the right to fill in the blanks.

Both communities have until tomorrow to hand over the list of 45,000 names to be naturalised in each constituent state. If they don’t make it in time, the Citizenship Board will be left to prepare the list in the event of a ‘yes’ vote.

The two parties have until April 16 to finalise the structure and staffing of the federal government upon entry into force of the Foundation Agreement, or else leave that to the UN leader too.

The two sides have until April 18 to identify and allocate the buildings in which the federal public service will be located upon entry into force of the Foundation Agreement. The parties must bear in mind the suitability and accessibility of the premises and the objective of having one-third of the federal public servants who work in Nicosia located in the Turkish Cypriot state.

Both parties have to work towards providing for a mechanism to be in place that allows for the constituent state institutions, namely the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, to be in place in the event of a ‘yes’ vote.

Two days after successful referenda, the two leaders must submit the names of the transitional co-Presidents, the transitional Council of Ministers, and the Cypriot members of the Supreme Court, or otherwise, leave it to the discretion of Annan and his special envoy, Alvaro de Soto.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.