Dear Mr Mavroyiannis,
I have very carefully read your speech from last Tuesday, in which you announced your candidacy for the presidency of the Republic of Cyprus. I confess that, after reading the 1,250 words, I felt very disappointed, because the essence of the speech was that within the short span of five years, you intend to seek to install on our little island what would definitely be paradise on earth. Admittedly, you referred in your speech to an impressive set of goals and you had a good word to say about all social groups and all social interests. I tried to locate something important that was missing, but I couldn’t find anything.
Of course, setting goals in generic terms was the easy task. For a proficient user of the Greek language, it could not have taken more than two to three hours to complete the task. But, as I have said many times in my articles, the difficult task is to determine how you will achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Regarding ‘how?’, there wasn’t a single word in your speech. Nor was there any mention of how the huge cost of achieving your goals will be financed.
By a rough calculation, I have estimated that it will take 25-50 years to achieve the goals you set out in your speech and that the cost of their implementation would probably exceed €100 billion. Where will this money come from? Will taxes be increased? Which taxes and to what extent? Or are we going to resort to foreign borrowing and, thus, mortgage the future of our children, at a time when low interest rates are becoming a thing of the past?
Perhaps, a more important question is what makes you believe that the politicians, who have collectively led Cyprus into its present miserable plight, will be willing to stand by you and will contribute to the realisation of your goals?
Dear Mr Mavroyiannis,
There are burning questions that you should answer convincingly in order to have a reasonable chance of securing your election.
The Cyprus issue
You said in your speech that we must “intensify our efforts to arrive – at last – at a solution of the Cyprus problem; a peaceful and just solution for the benefit of all Cypriots. With perseverance, stubbornness and determination we will bend the wall of intolerance.” What exactly do you have in mind and how do you realistically hope that you will achieve your target?
You then go on to say that “we must enhance the sense of security in our country and we should maximise our deterrent power – in every possible way and by all available means – in order to be constantly in full readiness to face new external aggressions and asymmetric threats”. Forgive me for the naivety of my thinking, but, on the strength of your words, I understand that you are considering the possibility of our involvement in a new war with Turkey, despite the certainty that such a war will lead us to a second massacre similar to that of 1974 and probably to the occupation of the whole of Cyprus and the Greek islands adjacent to Turkey’s coastline. Is there an inherent contradiction in your two positions? And, finally, what is your position and that of Akel on the possibility of Cyprus joining Nato?
The relationship between Russia and AKEL
You are probably aware of the rumours circulating that Akel is – in various ways – financially dependent on Russia and that this dependence has led, in the past, to the rejection of various plans for the solution of the Cyprus problem, which were much better than what we are currently discussing. It is being said that these are the influences, which led in 2004 to the infamous ‘We say NO to cement YES’ and to the ‘Zero troops, zero guarantees, from the first day’ of Mr Nikos Kotzias, in 2016-17. Before accepting Akel’s support for your candidacy, have you been satisfied that the aforementioned rumours about the economic dependence of Akel are completely unfounded? And if you have not done so, how do you hope to bypass the likely objections of this party, either in relation to the Cyprus problem, or in relation to the desired transparency and the fight against corruption and collusion?
The relationship between Mavroyiannis and AKEL
I must admit that I do not really understand the real meaning of the word ‘independent’ in describing your relationship with Akel. Since Akel has decided that you will be the candidate they will support in the presidential elections and you have decided to accept the support offered, in reality you have ceased to be independent of each other. An independent person is a person, who is truly independent and not one who merely declares himself to be independent.
In fact, in these particular circumstances, the loss of this independence is highly desirable, because it constitutes a safety valve. The fact that a structured political party, with a long history and tradition, will be there to exercise control over your actions should, in my opinion, be welcome. The absence of such controls could lead to a dangerous and destructive path, as has happened in the past. I believe that the era of “blank cheques” issued in the name of the presidents of the Republic of Cyprus, which has caused myriad problems and a lot of suffering, is over. It follows that this relationship between you and Akel and the pillars on which it is founded must be communicated to the electorate, in fair detail, so that we know what we are voting for.
I also found your reference to “the expected support of other political forces” to be particularly worrying, insofar as you do not even name these “other forces” and – even more so – you do not specify the basis on which these alliances have been built.
Leaders lead, they are not led
Another source of concern was your reference to “an ongoing dialectical relationship with our people and our society, to ensure that my goals and the content of my programme correspond, to the maximum extent, to the expectations [of the voters]”. Is this equivalent to “tell me what you want and I will adopt it, whether it is right or wrong?”.
An oxymoron
I suspect that, at some point in your speech, you came to realise that you “lost your sense of proportion” by promising all things to all people and so you felt the need to say: “Forgive me, but I don’t have magic recipes, nor a magic wand”, thus ending up in an oxymoron.
However, I acknowledge the fact that I may be being grossly unfair on you, as a result of rushing to conclusions. You have clearly stated your intention “to continue elaborating on every specific issue reflected in your programme”. If that is, indeed, your intention, I sincerely apologise, in anticipation.
Christos Panayiotides is a regular columnist for the Cyprus Mail, Sunday Mail and Alithia
