Cyprus-Forum.com

[brother]

leaders want to keep the status quo
By Loucas Charalambous


I HAVE READ dozens of articles in the newspapers and heard countless comments on the broadcast media regarding the notorious issue of the resumption of a procedure for the solution of the Cyprus problem. I cannot help wondering how all these people have not realised that what they say and write is just a load of hot air.

There is one simple truth that is brought home on a daily basis, which the analysts either have not comprehended or do not want to comprehend – the men who are governing us, Papadopoulos and Christofias, do not want a settlement. They desire the continuation of the current situation. This is the harsh reality, which, whether we like it or not, we are obliged to take into account before opening our mouth to express opinions, regarding the current state of affairs in Cyprus.

The reason for this behaviour is very simple indeed. The political careers of both are directly linked with the maintenance of the status quo. If we had a solution, Papadopoulos would lose his presidency, while a large group of people, currently enjoying the spoils of power, would lose their positions and other perks.

The President wants no solution. This is why he is now in the ridiculous predicament of having to turn down, or at best ignore, invitations by Tayyip Erdogan and Mehmet Ali Talat for a meeting to discuss the changes he would like to see made to the Annan plan. For instance, his obdurate refusal to meet Talat, on the grounds that by so doing he would ‘upgrade’ his status, is laughable. He had no problem meeting the pseudo-government’s ‘foreign minister’ Serdar Denktash, for secret dinners at his residence. But that was for a worthy cause – he was seeking Serdar’s co-operation so they could jointly kill off the possibility of a settlement.

Christofias, meanwhile, has linked his political future to that of Papadopoulos. For there to be a solution, it has to be supported by the leadership of AKEL. But for AKEL to support a solution, its leadership must first clash with Papadopoulos, who is opposed to it. But Christofias, we should remember, is the man who made Papadopoulos president; he personally chose him as the AKEL candidate.

In 2002, he knelt on many AKEL members unhappy at his decision to force them to accept Papadopoulos as the party’s candidate. He went as far as to threaten to expel party members who disagreed. He cannot now appear before these people and admit that he led the party to the same monumental blunder for a third time – electing a rejectionist president – without announcing his resignation.

This would mean the end of the House presidency and the AKEL leadership for him. The son of the poor Dikomo farmer would lose his status and all the trappings of power he so much relishes. A man, whose dream was to own a nice bicycle, is driven around by a chauffeur in a brand new Mercedes, is surrounded by bodyguards, has attention lavished on him by everyone and travels in luxury to all corners of the world. Would he give up all of this for the sake of a settlement? And there is another ambition at the back of his mind – standing for the presidency in three years’ time.
Papadopoulos and Christofias have built their political careers on the continuation of the status quo, on the failure to find a settlement. Whoever is not in a position to understand this bitter, simple truth, cannot make sense of their paranoid and incoherent pronouncements, which are aimed at cementing partition. Those who are under the illusion that the Cyprus problem can be solved during the remaining three years of Papadopoulos’ term in office should see a psychiatrist.

[brother]

This piece of editorial gave me lots to think about, as it seemed that all that is going on with tassos and co. are exposed as to their real intentions and why they keep on dodging any kind of settlement talks.

What do my GC brothers think?

Any truth, as i would really like to hear honest and objective opinions.