{"id":2758,"date":"2022-04-17T17:00:44","date_gmt":"2022-04-17T14:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penna.cydialogue.org\/?p=2758"},"modified":"2022-11-01T15:49:14","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T12:49:14","slug":"the-curse-of-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penna.cydialogue.org\/the-curse-of-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"THE \u201cCURSE\u201d OF ELECTIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"
Is it possible that the necessary democratic process of elections can become a “curse”? Under certain circumstances, yes. And if we are talking about Cyprus, even more so. I am not referring to the substance of the process but\u00a0rather to moments in time that are exponentially influenced by this particular factor. And I explain:<\/p>\n
– \u00a0In the 1990s, George Vassiliou\u00a0fought hard\u00a0to pull the Cyprus problem out of\u00a0the mire\u00a0of stagnation. He succeeded in mobilising\u00a0the UN Secretary-General who\u00a0in turn put together\u00a0the well-known\u00a0“Ghali\u00a0Set of Ideas”.\u00a0But we were approaching the ’93 presidential\u00a0elections\u00a0and Glafkos Clerides, although in line with Vassiliou\u2019s\u00a0policy on the Cyprus problem, had to formulate the opposing\u00a0narrative. This became\u00a0known as “burying the Ghali Ideas”. Clerides won the elections with this slogan, which also convinced\u00a0DIKO to follow him,\u00a0and he proceeded, in his first five years, on a\u00a0path\u00a0that departed from his own pragmatic philosophy.<\/p>\n
– When Clerides’ turn\u00a0came\u00a0to follow his own policy and to shape his own moment in time with\u00a0Cyprus\u2019\u00a0accession to the EU and the Annan plan, we\u00a0found ourselves once\u00a0again on the eve of presidential elections. AKEL knew that the Cyprus problem\u00a0had reached\u00a0its most historic crossroads.\u00a0Yet\u00a0it chose power (from which it had abstained for a decade), supporting Tassos Papadopoulos. A man\u00a0with whom, up to that moment,\u00a0it had been miles apart,\u00a0especially regarding their philosophy on resolving the Cyprus problem. A fact that was confirmed in the process.<\/p>\n
– Christofias’ term of office (2008-2013) was marked by the economic crisis, the climax of which touched again the next presidential election.\u00a0And the result?\u00a0Any decisions\u00a0regarding the\u00a0EU\u2019s\u00a0support plan which implied a memorandum were left to\u00a0those that would come next. Precious time was lost\u00a0at\u00a0the altar of not taking on the political cost.<\/p>\n
What is the point of all this? We are\u00a0in a period where the\u00a0global political scene is being reshaped and\u00a0we…\u00a0are once again in\u00a0an election period. We may soon find ourselves facing critical dilemmas. Who will\u00a0take\u00a0the necessary decisions? A President who seems to be simply waiting patiently for his retirement, or a bunch of candidates who first count their\u00a0votes\u00a0and then their responsibility to a country that\u00a0has learned to\u00a0hold\u00a0elections but never serious politics\u2026<\/p>\n