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With the voters preparing for a second round of elections in what is considered to be the most boring campaign in the Republic’s history, what the candidates have failed to realise is that the outcome, based on a lower turnout, was mainly due to the general mistrust in the establishment.
The previous administration had brought the economy to its knees, while the present government, in its enthusiasm to get into office five years ago, failed to drive home the message that it was caught off guard and was forced to abide with the haircut in deposits and rescue of banks by taxpayers’ money.
Of course, all of the candidates in the first round were supported by the political parties that made the big blunder in 2013 to challenge the Eurogroup’s initial proposal for a nationwide bailout, justifying the public perception that the House of Representatives was nothing more than a bunch of incompetents. The fact that they all appealed to the public to support each of their candidates was not convincing, but our deputies would never admit to their mistakes, lest they lose their parliamentary seats. They all suffer from a generous dose of goldfish disease – a memory span that last no more than a brief moment.
The last five years has seen a series of compromises and setbacks on many issues, as a result of which one wonders if Nicos Anastasiades and Stavros Malas differ on any issue, with similar ideologies that have not allowed for privatisations and drastic reforms. To their credit, the only common ground that their supporting parties share is a will to get the Cyprus talks going again. And that is the message that should go out on Sunday night.
The incumbent president and his run-off opponent have been talking about “social unity” and other freshly discovered words, while what is needed right now is to instill a sense of stability, continuity and national unity.
Turkey has once again embarked on its multi-front aggression tactics, opening up a new war front in Syria and challenging oil and gas explorations in the Cyprus EEZ, raising concern over security and regional stability issues, something that could affect our tourism and property sectors.
On the other hand, what both candidates should remember is that the revival of the Cyprus economy is primarily because of the sacrifices made by the private sector and SMEs, and not due to the mild pay cuts imposed on civil servants and bank employees, with their wages already re-instated to pre-crisis levels.
Whatever the outcome, the winner should have the courage to appoint a ‘national unity and economic prosperity’ government, one that will truly appeal to the hearts of all Cypriots. If either can drive this message home by Sunday, then that candidate will be the big winner.
