THE RABID reaction by President Tassos Papadopoulos and most party leaders to the comments about the Euro elections by European Parliament President Pat Cox last week was another example of the political irresponsibility that plagues public life. In the case of the pro-government politicians, this provocative behaviour should be seen in the context of their abhorrence towards the Annan peace plan and their thinly veiled opposition to a settlement of the Cyprus problem.
If we take into account that the target of their venomous attack, Pat Cox, is a man who has been a very good friend of Cyprus over the years, their inexplicably provocative behaviour deserves to be treated with nothing but contempt. When they can behave with such incredible hostility towards one of the island’s genuine foreign friends, there can be little doubt that they have lost the plot and are causing serious damage to the Greek Cypriot cause.
It was no accident that even the avowedly pro-government daily, Phileleftheros, was unable to restrain itself this time. It said in an editorial: “In the case of Cyprus, the ‘reaction’ phenomenon is characterised by exaggeration and a superficial approach to things. Often there is a sense that we are being persecuted by everyone.” The paper hit the nail on the head, but it would have been even more accurate if it had replaced the word ‘often’ with the word ‘always’.
We should take note of one thing. Even though our target is, supposedly, to secure a settlement of the Cyprus problem before May 1, 2004, almost everyone is talking about the elections for the European Parliament under the existing regime. They do not even consider it necessary to make their position –on the election of six Greek Cypriots to the Euro-parliament — conditional on the failure to reach a settlement. Without intending to, they are essentially revealing their deep desire to maintain the status quo. They aren’t even bothered about maintaining the pretence of an interest in a solution.
Last week, AKEL chief and House President Demetris Christofias went as far as to say that the Annan plan (which President Papadopoulos had accepted in The Hague last March), was not “balanced or fair” and called on the Turkish Cypriots to “return to the Cyprus Republic”. In doing so, he unceremoniously threw the High Level agreements and the federal settlement the Greek Cypriot side had accepted into the dustbin.
The AKEL leadership does not know what it is talking about any more. Another AKEL representative told us that one of the Annan plan provisions his party wanted to change was about the “presidential council of the federal state”. In other words, they wanted to do away with one of the most important provisions of the plan — the provision devised to circumvent Rauf Denktash’s insistence on a rotating presidency.
Apart from this dazzling display of irresponsibility, our political leadership — including that of DISY — also managed to show off its great talent for hypocrisy. Common sense would suggest that if Euro-elections were finally held without a settlement, leaving two of the six seats allocated to Cyprus empty (for Turkish Cypriots) would cause no harm to anyone. All it would mean was that two of our illustrious politicians would be deprived of the princely salary offered to Euro-MPs. On the other hand, it would be a very important political decision as it would send a positive message to the Turkish Cypriots — proving our sincere commitment to a solution — and to foreigners who have an interest in the peace process.
However, in order to swallow up the two seats in the European Parliament earmarked for the Turkish Cypriots, our politicians have come up with some grossly absurd arguments. They have argued that the 1960 Constitution, which was bicommunal, could not be enforced in the case of the Euro-elections and that the Turkish Cypriots were to blame for this. They have conveniently forgotten that for more than 40 years now, they have been citing the 1960 Constitution to back the correct claim that the Cyprus Republic is the only legitimate state in Cyprus. And they do not dare answer the damning question of why they have kept the 24 seats in the legislature and the post of vice-president — which are reserved for the Turkish Cypriots — vacant. If they were sincere and consistent, why did they not apply the same reasoning and give the 24 seats earmarked for Turkish Cypriots in the legislature to Greek Cypriots as well? If this is not hypocrisy and double standards, I do not know what is.
With such ruthless demagogues in our political leadership taking decisions on our behalf, can we ever realistically expect better days?
