By George Koumoulli
I am really taking my hat off to the Right of Greece and Cyprus. My admiration is limitless! Although this faction caused the Asia Minor Catastrophe, which was the greatest calamity of Hellenism over time, although a large part of it cooperated with the Germans during the occupation, even though it essentially forced Makarios to sign the Zurich-London Agreements, even though the fascist dictators Metaxas, Papadopoulos, Ioannidis and other drug addicts of the coups d’état were flesh from her flesh, although it handed over half of Cyprus to Turkey with the brutal invasion of July 15, 1974 (euphemistically a “coup d’état”), even though it did not punish a single junta officer who caused the tragedy in Cyprus, even though it is guilty of corruption and mammoth financial scandals, nevertheless, the Right has always been powerful in Greece and Cyprus. But the most striking thing is that, despite the right’s overburdened register, there is, at least to date, no left-wing candidate supported by at least one party for the CCT presidency in the upcoming 2023 elections. The Cypriot voter is forced to choose among right-wing candidates! This incredible phenomenon is the epitome of the dominance of the Right.
We can go back to the history of these two concepts 100 years ago in Greece. The followers of Venizelos composed the Left, while the anti-Venizelist faction consisted of the devotees of the “Patrice, Religion, Family”, i.e. the so-called nationalists, who, by the way, arranged the return to the throne of Constantine I, despite the fact that they knew that Constantine was a red cloth for the Allies of the Entente. Inevitably, therefore, the country was led to diplomatic isolation that resulted in the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
There is, of course, also the centrist space that represents a position that includes accepting and/or supporting a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy, while opposing political changes that would lead to a significant shift in society, either to the left or to the right. But I hasten to clarify that a party is not centrist because it calls itself such. For example, when a party tries to infiltrate crowds of voters by selling nationalism and delusions, such as the pursuit of a single state solution, or beliefs, then it has no place in the centrist space but in the far right. In Cyprus, unfortunately, the centrist space is shrinking. And yet, the existence of the centrist space is vital as it is able to maintain social balances, absorb shocks and collaborate, whenever necessary, in order to govern the place within the European framework.
I think about how different Cyprus would be if next February a genuine left-winger with left-wing collaborators won the elections for the first time. In the first place, at the celebrations of his electoral victory, he would insist that ONLY the Cypriot flag be waved, sending the message that he is not a prefect of Greece, nor the President of the Greek Cypriot community, but the President of the Republic of Cyprus, which embraces both the Turkish Cypriots and the Maronites and other minorities. His priorities, I believe, would be as follows: (1) the creation of a common front with the progressive Turkish Cypriots that would be the springboard for a solution within the framework of the federation. (2) The complete and definitive separation of State and Church. (3) The liberation of the Ministry of Education from the far right and the Church to stop the purulent outbursts of nationalism. (4) Declaration of a relentless war against a client state, because ‘democracy’ and ‘client state’ are antithetical, asymptomatic, incompatible concepts.
In the last decade we have witnessed scandalous appointments to the various “Guardians” (really, why did they grow like mushrooms?) and semi-state organisations by people of dubious abilities and qualifications, simply because the appointees were the party’s favourites. The tragedy is that they are expected to serve the interests of the party and not, of course, of the state-ordered society.
