From supporters of assertion to promoters of blackmails and subordination – by Stefanos Stefanou, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL
“HARAVGI” newspaper 9th March 2014
The Right has on many occasions demonstrated that it can make many empty pledges which in turn it will – when it achieves its goals – forget by doing exactly the opposite to what it promised to do. Our country’s recent history has given us many such examples. It’s enough merely to remember the fiasco with the S3OO missiles which secured Glafcos Clerides a second presidential term in office, but the missiles never reached Cyprus.
Mr. Anastasiades and the parties that supported him implemented on a mass scale this misleading tactic during the pre-election campaign. One of his pre-election commitments was that he would assert the best for Cyprus in the negotiations with the Troika. In this way today’s rulers stole the vote of the people by building up aspirations that they could achieve better results. This aspiration was summarized by Mr. Anastasiades’ public relations team with the following two slogans: “The crisis needs a leader” and “Cyprus is not alone”. The streets of Cyprus were filled with these slogans at huge advertising costs.
Just a few days after the elections the two slogans, together with all Mr. Anastasiades’ relevant pledges, were refuted by reality itself. Cyprus at the Eurogroup meeting in March 2013 was completely alone. The hugs, kisses and compliments during the pre-election fiesta of the Democratic Rally DISY party that was organised in Limassol, together with the European Peoples Party, were turned into unbearable pressures and blackmail by Mr. Anastasiades’ friends. “They put the pistol to my head,” declared the President and all of a sudden the slogan “The crisis needs a leader” became a joke. The President’s pre-election pledge that “I will not even discuss a haircut on bank deposits” also became a joke.
The pre-election slogans about an assertive and tough negotiation after the elections changed radically. The government from supporters of assertion became promoters of submission and subordination, as well as of blackmails. If the Bill tabled for privatisations was not approved argued the government then “public servants will find themselves without pay”, “the loan would be cut off” and “we will lose our credibility”. The real crisis illustrated how much the leader can resist and stand up to pressure. Precisely because the leader failed the test miserably, the people quite rightly are wondering the following: how will the President behave if certain circles and forces put a pistol to his head on the issue of natural gas, with regards the Cyprus problem or any other vital issue for Cyprus and the people?
After the defeat of the first vote in the House of Representatives on the Bill for privatisations the government and ruling forces tried to reply by stating that those who voted against the Bill must propose solutions. We will not refer to the self-evident that they are the government; consequently they must find the solutions which during the election campaign they said they had. We shall simply recall that for some time AKEL has been pointing out that the President must carry out what he pledged before the election. That is to say, to demand the renegotiation of the Memorandum on privatisations which he himself had proposed and agreed to, and search for alternative ways of funding the debt. In this way the country can be spared of the privatisations and the President perhaps can save even a small part of his lost credibility.
