Our View: The ‘resounding no’ has become a political mantra

EVER SINCE the 2004 referendum the utterance of the word ‘no’ (ochi) has come to be regarded as the ultimately, heroic political stand. It is seen as an illustration of patriotic resistance to the nefarious schemes of the enemies of Cyprus and of our uncompromising commitment to high ideals and principles. Any proposal or offer that does not meet the high moral and political standards that we set is summarily dealt with, with a ‘no’, to the applause, usually, of the media.
During his term in office, Demetris Christofias recognised that utterance of the word would win him brownie points so he kept using it despite being an allegedly pro-solution president. We heard him say ‘no’ to asphyxiating time-frames, arbitration and an international conference on countless occasions, while on the eve of a visit to New York to meet the UN chief, newspapers reported that he had ‘three nos in his suitcase’. He also uttered ‘no’ to the troika and the EU on numerous occasions, delaying the finalising of the memorandum with catastrophic consequences for the country.
In the election campaign, Giorgos Lillikas, made big capital out of his readiness to say the word, accusing his main rival Nicos Anastasiades of having low resistances, which meant he could not be trusted to mouth a heroic ‘no,’ when the need would arise. Inevitably, President Anastasiades came under severe criticism for not uttering the magic word at the key Eurogroup meetings in March. Our wise deputies took the responsibility, heroically saying ‘no’ to the March 15 deal, thus paving the way for a much a worse deal.
On Tuesday, this sterile negativity reared its ugly head once again, both outside and inside the legislature, which had to approve the memorandum. AKEL’s, EDEK’s and a couple of other deputies voted ‘no,’ without having an alternative proposal and aware that rejection of the memorandum would lead to the state’s bankruptcy and a messy exit from the euro; the parties still felt there was political capital to be made from a heroic, but ultimately meaningless, ‘no’.
There could not have been a more depressing illustration of the political immaturity that plagues the country and has caused all our problems. The above-mentioned parties were happy to put the economy in even deeper trouble than it is currently in, because sterile negativity has always paid high dividends in our undeveloped political culture. Unless we grow up and overcome our simplistic approach to politics, seeing everything as either black or white, regarding compromise as treason and always hiding behind the resounding ‘no,’ we will never progress as a state or a society.
It is time we understood that carrying on saying no, like spoilt children, is no answer or solution to anything.