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With the dust now settled from the storm that took some political parties by surprise, it’s back to work, but this time with an improved European Parliament, where people are expected to have a greater say in all things that affect their everyday lives and welfare.
With the conservative and Christian Democratic bloc taking a profound lead in the four-day elections, Commission President Barroso can now rely on the European Popular Party and its allies to proceed with fundamental reforms and reintroduce some revised treaties that will propel Europe into a more competitive market.
The fact that some hard-line MEPs from among the pro-Turkey Socialists and Greens have been sidelined, also bodes well for Cyprus, with the hope that we will see a more active EU participation in the peace process.
At home, the line-up of the six MEPs who got elected could not be any better, with two Brussels-matured representatives (Kasoulides and Triantafyllides) cementing their ties with the EPP and the European Left, respectively, while the presence of two decisive women (Theocharous and Papadopoulou) will add to a greater say on behalf of Cyprus. The addition of Akel’s moderate Hadjigeorgiou should also contribute to greater involvement in European social issues, while Edek’s Mavronikolas will be burdened with the difficult task of dissuading the Socialists from softening their stance on Cyprus and reducing their love affair with Turkey to a minimum, thanks in part to Labour’s embarrassing defeat.
Those who intentionally stayed away from the elections will have only themselves to blame for any “ills” that will be introduced or allowed to pass by the European Parliament, while voices of opposition need to reconsider what could happen if the EU does not clamp down on illegal immigration and opens the social and labour floodgates to potential hopefuls such as Turkey, a country troubled with its identity, history and rigid form of democracy.
The Cyprus political parties got a wake-up call as regards voter apathy, mostly among the younger people, and ought to reconsider their cheap campaigning tactics that we were forced to witness over the past few weeks, even months. Perhaps now is the time to get serious and start talking about the real issues.
