Cypriot presidential election: from dispute settlement to economic challenges

A presidential election run-off was held in Cyprus on 24 February 2013. Conservative candidate Nicos Anastasiades (Democratic Rally - DISY) won the election with 57.48% of the vote, while his opponent Stavros Malas (Progressive Party of Working People - AKEL) received the remaining 42.52%. The electoral strength of Giorgos Lillikas (Movement for Social Democracy - EDEK) was a huge surprise as he managed to collect 24.93% of the votes in the first round of the election. During the campaign, the issues that dominated the discussions were the financial crisis, the accident in Mari, the Presidency of the EU Council and the gas deposits in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus. For the first time since 1974, the settlement of the Cyprus dispute has not been the dominant issue during debates!

Who is the new President of Cyprus? Nicos Anastasiades (66 years old) is a lawyer by profession and an experienced politician. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1981 and has been leader of his party since 1997. Unlike the vast majority of Greek Cypriots, he was a strong supporter of the Annan Plan for Cyprus, which proposed the creation of the United Cyprus Republic as a federation of two constituent states joined together by a federal government apparatus. Even though a large majority of his party voted it down and his support caused an angry reaction of his party cadres who were calling for Anastasiades to step down. On defense issues, Anastasiades was one of the members of the House of Representatives who voted Cyprus to join the NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme. President Christofias vetoed it, but Anastasiades stated again his intention in Cyprus immediate application for membership in NATO by 2013. Also, the latest announced his commitment to reduce military conscription to 14 months during the first hundred days of his term.

The new President should immediately swim in deep water. The new government will have to ensure the stay of Cyprus in the eurozone through signing of the memorandum and the loan agreement which require tough negotiations. The mood in Europe can be described as “hostile” towards Cyprus, mainly due to reports about money laundering by local banks. All this happens while fiscal measures are already implemented and the unemployment rate is growing. Anastasiades believes that he can properly manage the economy rescue having the support of his European political allies, such as Merkel. For this reason, his political opponents call him as a loyal neoliberal “Merkelist”. A harsh statement issued by the Party of European Socialists before the run-off of the elections, strongly supported Malas and characterized Anastasiades as “a ‘troika-sponsored’ yes man who answers only to Angela Merkel and other EPP colleagues”.

However, despite the importance of financial issues, the new President should also handle the negotiations to solve the Cyprus dispute which can lead to the reunification of the island. Because of his support for the Annan plan in 2004, Anastasiades has not many supporters in Greece which is the constant ally of Cyprus. On the other hand, Anastasiades’s election was greeted with cautious enthusiasm in Turkey. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Foreign Minister of Turkey, stated after the election that “the election of Anastasiades comes to give positive momentum to talks on a final settlement of the Cyprus problem for two main reasons. Firstly, Anastasiades is the leader, who has supported the Annan plan. Secondly, Cyprus should have already realized that its integration in the EU will not bring positive results and benefits to the negotiating table”. Davutoğlu’s second point is very important, as Turkey never recognized the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of Europe in the second half of 2012 and even abstained from the activities of the European institutions during that time.

Already in April 2012, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated openly that there has not been enough progress on core issues of reunification talks. Today, we can claim that reunification talks have collapsed. Anastasiades should set as a primary goal of his Presidency the resumption of talks in cooperation with Derviş Eroğlu, President of Northern Cyprus. Surely the negotiations will be tough and lengthy, as little has changed to fixed claims of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. But all of them know it is a huge disgrace Nicosia to be nowadays the only remained divided capital in the world. They must work hard together to find a settlement that will reunify the island of Cyprus and the people who inhabit it.

Many are those who argue that the Republic of Cyprus in five years will be the same as today. Many of Anastasiades’ supporters believe that perhaps the island's reunification will have been achieved, while in contrast, many of his opponents believe that the island will be run by European technocrats who will leech it. In the near future we will know if the new President of Cyprus will vindicate his supporters or opponents.

Το παρόν άρθρο δημοσιεύτηκε στην ιστοσελίδα Open Society