Cyprus-Forum.com

[RAFAELLA]

Communist battles ex-minister in Cyprus
By Kerin Hope in Nicosia

Published: February 22 2008 14:56 | Last updated: February 22 2008 14:56

After pollsters’ predictions proved spectacularly wrong in the first round, Greek Cypriots are looking to internet betting sites for hints on the outcome of Sunday’s run-off vote for a new president.

Demetris Christofias, the Cyprus communist party leader and runner-up in last Sunday’s first-round vote, is in pole position after his party earlier this week forged a controversial alliance with the Democratic party, a nationalist group, according to online bookmakers.

Several websites yesterday gave Mr Christofias a just-under-evens chance of becoming the first unreconstructed communist to lead a European Union member-state.

The odds shortened marginally from 3-1 to 2.7-1 for Yiannakis Kassoulides, the right-of-centre Democratic Rally party candidate and surprise first-round winner by a margin of 0.2 per cent, equivalent to fewer than 900 votes.

Both candidates have pledged to work to re-unify the Greek and Turkish halves of Cyprus after a 34-year division in a way that would allow the Turkish Cypriot community to benefit fully from EU membership and would resolve longstanding disputes over property. But personal rivalries run deep.

Mr Christofias, a Moscow-educated populist who demanded that Cyprus delay adopting the euro, has re-invented himself as a champion of EU citizens’ rights. “We shall become ‘Euro-fighters’ struggling on behalf of the poor,” he says.

The contrast could hardly be stronger with Mr Kassoulides, a French-trained medical doctor who as foreign minister helped negotiate Cyprus’s accession, then became a European parliament member.

Yet the contest to secure backing in the second round from the Democratic party, which traditionally holds the balance of power with about 15-17 per cent of the vote, underscored the homespun qualities of Greek Cypriot politics.

After Markos Kyprianou, Cyprus’s European commissioner, had persuaded fellow-executives in the party leadership to back Mr Kassoulides, members of the 200-strong central committee overturned the decision amid threats, insults and a fist-fight among senior party members, according to witnesses.

If Mr Christofias wins on Sunday, Tassos Papadopoulos, the hardline incumbent knocked out in the first round, could still influence decision-making from behind the scenes. A former leader of Democratic Rally, the 75-year-old Mr Papadopoulos has made clear he intends to stay on in politics.

Mr Papadopoulos – known to Turkish Cypriots as “Mr No” – persuaded voters at a referendum in 2004 to reject a UN draft settlement. He has blocked any possibility of a new peace initiative by refusing to hold substantive talks with the Turkish Cypriots. Both Mr Christofias and Mr Kassoulides say they want to resume contacts immediately.

Three-and-a-half years of EU membership have brought increased prosperity and made Greek Cypriots more confident about the future. Last Sunday’s upset showed that many younger Greek Cypriots broke with a tradition of voting according to family, trade union and village loyalties, according to analysts.

In spite of the electoral arithmetic, Mr Kassoulides might once again surprise punters.“It’s going to be neck and neck. Many Democratic party voters will break ranks,” said Lefteris Adilinis, European editor at Politis, a Greek Cypriot newspaper.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7884a62e-e155 ... fd2ac.html

[Get Real!]

Kasoulides = Partition

Get it through your thick head woman.

[miltiades]

Kasoulides = Partition

Get it through your thick head woman.

Christofias = isolation = capitulation= reticulation !! Get it through your head comrade !

[Get Real!]

Kasoulides = Partition

Get it through your thick head woman.

Christofias = isolation = capitulation= reticulation !! Get it through your head comrade !

We heard some people's "isolation" stories before in 2004 remember?
But why capitulation? As for reticulation... that doesn't sound too bad...

[miltiades]

Kasoulides = Partition

Get it through your thick head woman.

Christofias = isolation = capitulation= reticulation !! Get it through your head comrade !

We heard some people's "isolation" stories before in 2004 remember?
But why capitulation? As for reticulation... that doesn't sound too bad...

I believe that he will capitulate to Turkey and accept any solution so that he may go down in History as the president who set in motion that dreaded time bomb terminating in conflict , some time in the future !
Capitulation = surrender =conceding
reticulation=dummy !!!!

[Get Real!]

Kasoulides = Partition

Get it through your thick head woman.

Christofias = isolation = capitulation= reticulation !! Get it through your head comrade !

We heard some people's "isolation" stories before in 2004 remember?
But why capitulation? As for reticulation... that doesn't sound too bad...

I believe that he will capitulate to Turkey and accept any solution so that he may go down in History as the president who set in motion that dreaded time bomb terminating in conflict , some time in the future !
Capitulation = surrender =conceding
reticulation=dummy !!!!

I know the meanings of these words Mil, it's you I'm worried about...

[Piratis]

RAFAELLA, FT is one of the most anti-Cypriot publications out there.

[miltiades]

Kasoulides = Partition

Get it through your thick head woman.

Christofias = isolation = capitulation= reticulation !! Get it through your head comrade !

We heard some people's "isolation" stories before in 2004 remember?
But why capitulation? As for reticulation... that doesn't sound too bad...

I believe that he will capitulate to Turkey and accept any solution so that he may go down in History as the president who set in motion that dreaded time bomb terminating in conflict , some time in the future !
Capitulation = surrender =conceding
reticulation=dummy !!!!

I know the meanings of these words Mil, it's you I'm worried about...

GR , Thank you for expressing concern about my person , have no fear because Miltiades is as solid as a rock , no mincing of words , no bullshit just wise words based on a lengthy association with my brain in the right place , an activity that I sometimes wonder if is as widespread amongst some of my compatriots !!!

[michalis5354]

A man that has never believed in Europe and its values should not be trusted to fly that plane. It s like flying a plane with no direction . Helios Tragedy comes to mind.

I have strong opinion on this. Either you believe or you do not believe. Christofias voted NO to the plan to say Yes . Can anyone tell me what does this mean? Saying No to cement the YES still very confused.

[Piratis]

A man that has never believed in Europe and its values should not be trusted to fly that plane.

The same can be said about Kasoulides and his support to Annan plan. How can he be trusted to bring anything better if he has already supported the Annan plan?