When politics is stripped of substance, the void is filled with personalities, slogans, publicity and ambition. The problem is that history waits for no one
‘The great Nothing: its hucksters are utterly free’. Thus has this passage from Kostas Varnalis’s ‘Fourth Discourse’ in *The Burning Light* come down to us, slightly corrupted. There, the poet writes:
‘No end, no beginning
my own opinion, a fence,
does not define me; I am of Nothingness,
an utterly free huckster’.
Almost a century later, these lines serve as a mirror to a political life in which the packaging often vies with the content for prominence. With countless statements, endless communication, numerous personal strategies, and a country that continues to await answers to its major problems.
First and foremost, the Cyprus issue. Nikos Christodoulides insists that there is no dead end. He speaks of dynamism, initiatives, ideas and prospects. But politics is not judged by the vocabulary chosen by those in power to describe reality. It is judged by reality itself. And the facts are clear: New York did not result in a trilateral meeting, did not lead to the resumption of negotiations, and did not produce the substantial progress that had been hyped in the media. María Ángela Holguín went on to say that the window of opportunity for progress is ‘gradually closing’ and that future talks must focus on substance and method. The President, meanwhile, insists that ‘we are not at an impasse’.
One may agree or disagree with this interpretation. However, one cannot substitute the outcome with the announcement of the outcome. And whilst time is running out on the Cyprus issue, the 2028 marathon has already begun on the domestic front.
The Democratic Rally has not yet recovered from the trauma of 2023 and is once again facing a conflict over the next presidential election. Averof Neophytou has already announced his candidacy. Annita Demetriou has made clear her intention to contest the nomination. And the public debate is awash with factions, dinners, pledges, party statutes, personal jibes and suspicions about who is backing whom. The question, however, that concerns society is not who will prevail at Pindarou. It is what political programme they intend to govern with.
DIKO, on the other hand, faces the difficulty encountered by any party participating in the government coalition: where does government support end and where does its autonomous political identity begin? And as 2028 draws nearer, this question will become increasingly difficult to answer.
For DEPA and EDEK, the problem is different: their public presence has been so severely curtailed that the major challenge is not only what they propose, but how they will make their proposal politically visible once again.
And what of AKEL? It has an organised apparatus, historical weight and a clearer party structure than most of its rivals. It acts as the opposition and, for example, following the New York talks, it publicly stated its position that no substantial progress had been made on the Cyprus issue. The question for the party itself is whether its cautious opposition tactics can be transformed into a comprehensive alternative proposal for governance, rather than simply waiting for others to make mistakes.
For society cannot afford to wait until 2028 to hear what those who wish to govern it have to say.
Cyprus faces major national and structural problems: the Cyprus issue, education, energy, justice, the restructuring of the state, the General Health System (GESY), pensions. And alongside these are the everyday concerns: the cost of living, housing, wages and purchasing power.
This is where the real political debate must begin. Anyone standing for the presidency must explain exactly what they are proposing. Not who they dislike. Not who betrayed them. Not who promised them support over a dinner. But what sort of Cyprus they want in 2030 and how they intend to build it.
The same applies to the current President. It is not enough to describe stagnation as progress or expectations as prospects. The gap between political rhetoric and measurable results is precisely where every government is judged.
Otherwise, we shall continue to watch a play in which the leading actors change but the script remains the same. And then Varnalis will stubbornly return to remind us that, when there are no principles, no end and no destination, all that remains is noise. And amidst the noise, ‘the huckster of Nothing, utterly free’. Except that Cyprus has no more time for Nothing.
