This year marks half a century of Turkish occupation, yet it doesn’t seem to bother us.
The government has no counterproposal to Turkish greed, only… mentioning the Cran Montana memorandum.
Parties have solidified into a mishmash of ideologies, offering a bit of everything, and aspiring leaders and chiefs sprout up on different ballot papers without providing clear explanations to their voters.
One such example is Marios Pelekanos, whose candidacy became a soap opera and was unworthy.
He was unworthy because the interdependence between DISY and ELAM has been proven for years, whether among voters or executives – the story of Andreas Themistocleous is well-known.
He somewhat showed the way to Marios Pelekanos.
Perhaps DISY itself showed the way, with its ambiguous history: from the memorials of EOKA at the British embassy to the nationalist organizations at the forefront of the Annan Plan.
Thus, Pelekanos, in his first statement as an ELAM candidate during the fiftieth year of Turkish occupation, did not feel obligated to say anything about the Cyprus issue.
He focused on immigration, demographics, and accuracy, and presumably, this is how he will proceed until the elections.
We’ll see afterwards. Anyway, nobody remembers that he supported the bi-communal bi-zonal federation (BBF) framework as a government representative and, of course, as the vice-president of DISY.
Or that he endorsed all the deceptions of the Anastasiades government and now speaks about accuracy.
Just as nobody remembers (at least most people) that Annita Demetriou was elected as the President of the Parliament with the votes of ELAM, perpetuating the fairy tale of anti-systemic sentiment.
Amidst this ambiguity, several political charlatans, opportunists of the era, emerge, jumping from one party to another because even the bankrupt parties (all parties) do not maintain any ideological framework, not even the… hardline ELAM.
Which easily absorbs anyone who knocks on its door, regardless of whether they were its political opponent until yesterday, to establish themselves in the Cypriot party establishment.
To shed their neo-Nazi, criminal past and feed their voters with more slogans, just like the other parties do.
In short, there is much talk about Pelekanos, his transfer from Cypriot right-wing to Cypriot far-right, and calls for “clarification” from DISY, while an advisor and admirer of Glafkos Clerides is on the AKEL ballot paper simply because he is a Turkish Cypriot – many examples abound.
All these indicate a horizontal decline that has been present for years but is now glaringly evident and irritatingly bothersome. Why?
Because society does not demand clear positions and only engages with tweets, YouTubers, and sensational “breaking news” like the scandals with Pelekanos and the current leadership of DISY.
Because the most “revolutionary” act of this society is to vote for ELAM supposedly to punish other parties or VOLT to solve the Cyprus issue – how pathetic.
Because there is no half-decent political space capable of rejecting stupidity and setting a political, cultural, social framework to perhaps lift this place out of the mire. Until it is found, those who fare better in the mud will survive.
As the poet says: “In this scheme that washes away blood and tears, you have nothing precious to offer / only the flame that chirps on the locks and a penny in the box at the corner.”
