The new president of Cyprus has
been elected today and dare I say the majority of Cypriots still continue to
live each to their own dreamworld. Much debate and controversy have preceded
these presidential elections, which consisted of 11 candidates. A country as
powerful as the US had only 2 candidates, yet a small island of a population of
under a million had 11 noble, headstrong and brave politicians, willing to take
on the history and past of the island, as well as its presently unstable
financial and political situation, all the way to a brighter future. Or it just
proves what an arrogant nation we truly are. Probably the latter.
Watching political debates on TV
was as painful as watching Glee. Even though the candidates were not making
attempts at singing and dancing (ok, maybe one of them did actually), the
inflicting psychological pain of embarrassment and frustration on to their
viewers was still the same. The reporters would ask candidate A how he/she would
proceed to resolve an ongoing national problem B. The candidate would proceed
to answer the question by elaborately accusing his/her opponent, candidate C,
of how his/her political party in the past were wrong in making a certain
decision about problem D, without actually answering the reporter’s question.
And this was the tactic followed by everyone, because the truth is, no-one
knows shit. None of them know what they are doing or what they want to do or
what is going to happen. The best manoeuvre is to prove their opponents are worthless,
lying, dishonest, irresponsible assholes, and thus you should vote for him/her
instead because they are not as bad.
And the public of course get
frustrated by all these childish tantrums and two-faced backstabbings, yet the
majority are as bad as the politicians they are voting for. Let’s face it,
these politicians have started off as human beings themselves, as members of
the public, as the next common voter, before evolving into two-faced beasts
that feed off the country’s assets and people. These politicians have become like
that and continue to be like that, because the society allows them to be so. Of
course, when presented with 11 worthless candidates, you are forced to vote for
the least incapable (instead of the most capable) but these beasts will not
change, unless the voters change.
First of all, enough is enough
with the political parties and what they supposedly represent. Everyone needs
to take a hard look at their party and at themselves and ask what it is they
truly stand for. The majority have no clue. They are either guided by the
fanaticism/guilt/rage that their parents and grandparents are carrying or are
misguided and naive or are actually so deeply lost in their own scheming lies
and arrogant attitude that do not even know anymore what they stand for. A
20-year old carrying out a political debate with his/her “friends” on facebook,
whilst they are all completely clueless about history, politics or common
sense, does not mean he/she is a responsible adult who cares about his/her
country’s future. It’s just sad. And the worse ingredient of all, is
narrow-mindness. Refusing to acknowledge
the good or bad qualities of a politician because of their party’s political
views is as stupid as supporting a football team because the right wing has to support the “blue” one and the left wing the “red” one. Oh hang on...
Second of all, society shares its
blame in the things the politicians are accused of. Cronyism for example (boy,
was that word hard to find in English, whereas everyone knows it in Greek!), is
as common in Cyprus as the word “malakas”. Getting a job in Cyprus is not about
your qualifications and experience; it’s about fitting the criteria required
for a position – criteria which are of course listed according to what the
chosen person for the position already has. In order to get yourself hired in Cyprus,
especially in governmental positions, you will have to know someone in “power”
or know someone who knows someone who is the hairdresser of the wife of someone
in “power” or be a loyal sheep to a political party since the age of 5, thus
when favoured political party rises in power, your fortunes rise with it as
well. And the voters accuse the politicians of favouring their own political
party members or their friends and relatives, but the truth is that these
relatives, friends, associates, hairdressers of the wives are the voters
themselves. It is the people that give this sort of power to politicians. It is
the people, it is society as a collective who corrupts the politicians and
forces them into a “survival of the fittest” battle. They must keep the voters
pleased or else they will lose their votes. I’m not saying the politicians are
saints; they are of course the ones to blame the most for ditching their morals
so easily. But the voters share a great deal of responsibility as well, and
unless they change their mentality, things will not change in Cyprus.
Finally, it is the delusion that
things would be or will be so much different if candidate A is elected
president instead of candidate B. Of course some will create more shit than
others. When it comes to problems though such as the financial situation in
Cyprus (again, the government is mostly to blame but the people share a great
deal of responsibility too for being irresponsible with their money), there is
only one way out really. A small country like Cyprus, belonging to the family
of 27 European counties, split in half thanks to its own people and the Turkish
invaders, with dominant countries like Germany breathing down its neck, will
not have many options really, will it?
Cypriots need to change their
attitude and be more responsible and vigilant where they can be, and less
arrogant and confident when they shouldn’t. Cypriots are over-confident when it
comes to the elections (11 candidates, seriously?) and when it comes to
following a political party leader like blinded sheep, without questioning the
true motives of the politicians or thinking that because their elected leader
wears a green tie instead of a purple one, he/she will also assume the
superpowers of the Hulk and crash everyone else who opposes them. However,
Cypriots need to learn that they have more power in other matters, especially
via unity and collaboration. The island has suffered so many invasions
throughout the centuries, yet if it is one thing that history is teaching us is
that if we put our minds together we can become a powerful nation. If we want
change, we will have to start from the little things that surround us, we will
have to start from our own homes and progress into influencing our work
environment, our political parties and politicians, our government and
eventually, collectively begin influencing the fate of the whole country.
