VACUOUS rhetoric and conspiracy theories have been constant features of our political life. The politicians may change but the tradition of churning out empty and usually irrational slogans and unearthing imaginary plots against Cyprus are always preserved. Nothing can temper the passion for meaningless sloganeering, cynically calculated to caress the ears of the electorate and keep politicians free of any responsibility for the problems facing the country. Not even the devastating shock our economy has suffered has persuaded them to change their ways and abandon this immature political behaviour.
Quite the contrary, the empty rhetoric has been stepped up as have the foreign plots against the country. In the last few weeks, a new slogan has been launched and it has been collectively embraced by the political parties – the need to ‘disengage from the memorandum and the loan agreement’ - all of which have been repeating it. Once a slogan becomes fashionable all parties take it up, because they do not want to be accused of not wanting to ‘disengage from the memorandum’.
Even the government spokesman joined in the fun on Wednesday, declaring after the National Council meeting that “the battle for the exit from the memorandum will take place within the eurozone.” This was a direct response to AKEL’s call for disengagement from the memorandum by leaving the euro, which is certain to lead to a disengagement from the EU as well. AKEL’s idea may have been rejected by the rest of the parties, but the desire for disengagement from the memorandum remains undimmed. How this will be achieved nobody has said because nobody knows. It suffices that it sounds good and everyone supports it like they support the return of all refugees to their homes, because, in Cyprus, politics has always been the art of the unattainable.
Disengagement would also quash the schemes of the troika and our EU partners to get their hands on Cyprus’ hydrocarbon resources. This is fast becoming a semi-official conspiracy theory with many of our politicians certain that the troika wants to steal our natural gas. Yet if we are to be honest the country would have a better chance of enjoying the eventual benefits from the commercial exploitation of natural gas if the whole enterprise was being overseen by the troika or the EU. There would be less scope for corruption and a guarantee that rational decisions were taken, decisions that would benefit the country rather than a few individuals, parties and companies. We had not yet extracted one cubic foot of natural gas and the previous government had already set up companies to manage the resource and distributed highly-paid jobs to the boys.
The natural gas and meltdown of the economy have also been combined with the Cyprus problem to give rise to another slogan – the three issues should be kept separate and never combined. Another meaningless slogan, embraced by all the political parties, and diplomatically set out by the Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides when he met US Secretary of State John Kerry 10 days ago. According to the prevailing political wisdom the three issues needed to be kept separate because there was a big danger foreigners would exploit our economic woes to impose an unfair solution to the Cyprus problem and thus take control of our hydrocarbons.
How the three issues could be kept separate, again, nobody has told us. Our weak economic position cannot be kept separate from anything because it now defines Cyprus. And is anyone under the illusion that natural gas would not feature in settlement talks if and when they start? Gas is the reason there would be another push for a settlement. Or perhaps we think that we can exploit the hydrocarbons without reaching some understanding with Turkey? The NATO General-Secretary Rasmussen recently suggested that Cyprus should start drilling for hydrocarbons only after there was a settlement, but we impulsively declared his view as unacceptable, rather than allow it to enter our political thinking.
But this would require our politicians to have their feet firmly on the ground and think rationally. Instead Rasmussen’s comments were used as a cue for more vacuous rhetoric and patriotic breast-beating. Perhaps things would have to get worse, as they will, before politicians finally get to grips with the harsh realities of today. They may even understand that uttering empty slogans, advancing conspiracy theories and promoting wishful thinking are no way to deal with the daunting challenges facing Cyprus. What the country needs now are rational thinkers and problem solvers if it is ever to emerge from the mess it is in.