Article by Andros Kyprianou – Former General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL

 

Sunday 4 September 2022, “Haravgi” newspaper

The upcoming presidential elections will be decisive for the development of Cypriot society in the years ahead. […] The problems the next President will be called upon to address with are many. Namely, the Cyprus problem, the fight against corruption and the tackling of ongoing price hikes and other major social problems that have accumulated in society. There are also two other problems which society may not attach great importance to, but which I consider to be extremely important. That is, the lack of a democratic culture in the exercise of power and the arrogance that leads to people’s intelligence being underestimated.

We must examine the three principal presidential candidates (Averof Neofytou, Nikos Christodoulides and Andreas Mavroyiannis) having all these as a basis, all of whom I have known personally for years.

Starting with N. Christodoulides. Everyone knows that as the former Government Spokesperson he was the right hand man of N. Anastasiades, his closest associate. As Foreign Minister, he was the one primarily handling the Cyprus problem. Those who have known him for a long time say that his ambition to become President of the Republic of Cyprus has always been burning. This ambition led him to side with Mr. Anastasiades and the ruling DISY party.

N.Christodoulides has sought to build such an image over the years. He tried not to clash with anyone and to appease people in the mass media. He avoided taking a position on difficult and unpopular issues. Whenever he was forced to take a stand, he said a lot but without saying anything. It is not out of politeness that he avoids responding to challenges. It is because he does not have and indeed does not want to take a clear position on these difficult issues. If he defends one position, he will anger supporters who support the opposite position. It is not out of any respect that he claims he does not distinguish between citizens on the basis of their beliefs. It is precisely because he knows that if he does express a position on critical issues, he will start losing votes from voters who will be annoyed by his position.

But this is a presidential election. And Mr. Christodoulides will, whether he likes it or not, come out of the closet. He will have to give answers for what he has said and (not) done during the nine years of Anastasiades’ administration.

The Cyprus problem under the Anastasiades administration has reached its worst point ever. It is one step closer to the permanent partition of Cyprus. Mr. Christodoulides played a key role in the handling of the Cyprus problem. He not only received instructions from the President of the Republic, but also took initiatives and proceeded to made assessments.

Christodoulides leaked to journalists that the trilateral cooperations [between Greece, Cyprus and Israel/Egypt] had supposedly shielded the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus and that Turkey could not bother us. The result was that Turkey was roaming around and conducting explorations our EEZ undisturbed without anyone reacting.

He predicted that the threats Turkey had issued to open the enclosed town of Varosha were mere pre-election games and tricks. The opening of Varosha is being done gradually, slowly destroying the prospect of a solution of the Cyprus problem.

Furthermore, he made the policy of sanctions [on Turkey] a major issue. As of August 2019, he predicted that the EU would impose sanctions that would supposedly hurt Turkey and force it to return to the negotiating table on the basis of the positions we want.

Three years onwards, none of these objectives/goals have been achieved. He claims to be in favour of a solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation, but whenever there has been an initiative in this direction he has reacted negatively.

As far as corruption issues are concerned, it suffices only to say that he does not consider the DISY government to be corrupt. This speaks for itself. Mr. Christodoulides either does not understand what corruption is, or he understands it very well, but he is looking the other way because he wanted to get along with everyone, because corruption scandals have his approval and consent too, his own approval. For the sake of history, I simply point out that, according to the Eurobarometer, the Anastasiades government has led to Cyprus topping the table with regards corruption in Europe.

When it comes to social issues, Nikos Christodoulides has never stood up to be judged, nor has he given any sign of moving in the right direction.

As far as the profile of the polite and conciliatory man he is trying to portray to the outside world is concerned, someone should remind him that actions speak louder than images. The mere fact that he transformed the Foreign Ministry into his own election machine does him no credit. We are a small country, we all know each other and therefore we all know what happened during his days at the Ministry and how he really behaves when there are no cameras. He is a good disciple of Mr. Anastasiades, who tries to project the image of a conciliatory and dialectical person, but loses his temper with anyone who makes him angry.

With all this and more that will not be recorded due to space constraints, Mr. Christodoulides is deemed unfit to be President of the Republic.