terça-feira, fevereiro 26, 2008

Full speed a-left


Demetris Christofias, Secretário Geral do AKEL (comunista) foi, dia 24 de Fevereiro, eleito presidente do Chipre por 53,36 % dos votos contra 46.64% de Ioannis Kasoulides, o candidato conservador.


O Chipre é o primeiro Estado-Membro da União Europeia a eleger um Presidente comunista, apesar de o AKEL, mesmo ainda antes da queda da União Soviética, ter amenizado o seu programa ideológico.


Esta vitória foi conseguida à custa de uma promessa de retoma de negociações para a re-unificação da ilha, recorrendo a laços históricos entre movimentos de esquerda de ambos os lados como nova estratégia a adoptar no processo negocial.


Uma última ressalva: apesar da expectativa que antecede este mandato, há que ter prudência perante as reacções às esperanças nele depositadas. De facto, uma excessiva pressão para que se atinja um resultado rápido, pode ter como fim nefasto o privégio da velocidade das soluções em detrimento da sua estabilidade.

8 comentários:

Paulo Colaço disse...

Zé, o teu último parágrafo entronca com o primeiro post do Diogo.

A pressão sobre os governos é boa? prejudicial? estamos preparados para ela?

Esse governo acredito que não esteja preparado, mas será que um governo comunista está preparado para o escrutínio popular?

Anónimo disse...

Pois, a pergunta é bem colocada Colaço. Um governo comunista, em teoria poderá é estar mais preparado para a ditadura do proletariado. Quanto à unificação da ilha, coloco sérias dúvidas...

jfd disse...

Sistema Político de Chipre:

The Constitution dates from 1960 but has not been applied since the intercommunity conflicts of 1963. Since July 1974 the country has been divided into two by a "green line" that is controlled by the UN Blue Berets. The northern part of the island is occupied by the Turkish army and is the self proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, an entity only recognised by Turkey.
195 000 Cypriots live there in comparison with 750 000 in the Southern part of the island (this includes one third refugees from the North). According to the Cypriot Constitution the presidential role is reserved for a Greek Cypriot, that of Vice-President, for a Turkish Cypriot (the position is vacant at present). The President of the Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage for a five year term in office. As head of the executive office he appoints the government that he leads. 30% of the seats in government and Parliament (24 out of 80) are reserved for the Turkish Cypriot community and at present they are also vacant.

jfd disse...

Vencedor:

Demetris Christofias presented his electoral programme on 14th November last. He assured the Cypriots that he did not intend to form a communist regime: "My candidature is supported by people across the entire population. If I win my government will comprise progressive personalities."

Cessante:

Tassos Papadopoulos published his programme at the beginning of January. The outgoing President made 19 socio-economic promises including the reduction of public debt, the improvement of Cypriot living standards, the increase in social aid and the attribution of a 13th month of wages for the military.

Principal derrotado:

Ioannis Kasoulidès was the first to announce he was running on 13th June 2007.
Ioannis Kasoulidès, one of the leaders of the main opposition parties, Democratic Rally (DISY), former Foreign Minister (1997-2003) in the government led by Glafcos Cléridès and MEP since June 2004

jfd disse...

Análise da The Robert Schuman Foundation (created in 1991 and acknowledged by State decree in 1992, is the main French research centre on Europe. It develops research on the European Union and its policies and promotes the content of these in France , Europe and abroad)

Demetris Christofias (Progressive Party of the Working People, AKEL) was elected President of the Republic of Cyprus in the second round of the presidential election that took place on 24th February winning 53.37% of the vote in comparison with 46.63% for his rival Ioannis Kasoulides (Democratic Rally, DISY).
Turn out was slightly higher than that recorded during the first round on 17th February rising to 90.84% i.e. +1.42 point. It is obligatory to vote in Cyprus.

"The people have voted. Victory does not just belong to the Progressive Party of the Working People, we triumphed together. Tomorrow is another day and we have a number of problems to overcome. We must rally together and work as a team to achieve the reunification of our homeland," declared Demitris Christofias when the results were announced.
Ioannis Kasoulidès acknowledged his defeat and congratulated his adversary. "It was a difficult campaign. We discussed issues that have never been addressed until now. I assured Demetris Christofias that I would stand by him to find a solution to the Cypriot problem," he indicated. In the end the support of Archbishop Chrysostomos II, head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church did not enable Ioannis Kasoulides to win through over his rival, leader of the island's main party which is supported by the Democratic Party (DIKO) led by outgoing president Tassos Papadopoulos, the Movement of Social Democrats-Centre Union (EDEK), the United Democrats (EDI) and the Ecologist and Environmentalist Movement-Green Party (KEP).

Demetris Christofias who is sixty and who benefited from a scholarship from the former Soviet Union holds a degree in history. Elected Secretary General of the Progressive Party of the Working People in 1988 he became chairman of the Chamber of Representatives, the only Chamber in Parliament after the general elections on 27th May 2001, won by his party with 34.7% of the vote. He was re-elected to this post after the elections of 21st May 2006.
In 2004 Demetris Christofias was against the peace plan put forward by the UN in view of the country's reunification and voted "no" as did the majority of Greek Cypriots (75.83%) whilst 64.9% of Turkish Cypriots approved the plan.

His victory makes Demetris Christofias the first Communist Head of State of Cyprus and also in the European Union. According to political observers the present European Commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, son of former Cypriot President (1977-1988) Spiros Kyprianou, may very well become Foreign Minister. According to information released in the press, the Democratic Party will be attributed 3 ministries and the Movement of Social Democrats-Centre Union, 2.
"It is not his priority to transform Cyprus into a Communist State. The aim is to modernise the country and democratise Cypriot institutions," declared AKEL spokesperson, Andros Kyprianou who said that the next Finance Minister would not be from AKEL but would be chosen by consensus.

Demetris Christofias is often described as a eurosceptic. He was against his country's adoption of the euro on January 1st. "I am not a eurosceptic. I am a eurofighter. I fight to defend the interests of Cyprus in Europe. I shall not systematically say no to everything put forward by the European Union," he said on 22nd February.
"He is a pragmatic Social Democrat. He is not even an anti-capitalist. At first he may be the cause of a few raised eyebrows in the European Union. But he is not what springs to mind when we think of the word 'Communist'," maintains Hubert Faustmann, professor of international relations at the University of Nicosia. "AKEL has almost been a capitalist party for years" said the Vice-President of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, Theodore Couloumbis.

The revival of negotiations on the island's reunification – split since July 1974 by a "green line" controlled by the UN Blue Berets, comprises Demetris Christofia's priority. The new President is in favour of a federal solution and is recommending the establishment of an independent, demilitarised, non-aligned country.
During his electoral campaign he said that he wanted to open negotiations with the Turkish part of the island under the auspices of the UN. "I want to send a message of friendship to Turkish Cypriots, the message of a joint battle for us so that we can manage our affairs without foreign intervention. We must move forwards on the Cypriot issue to find a joint solution and open communication channels with Turkish Cypriots," he declared when the results were announced. "I think the problem of Cyprus can be solved by the end of this year," indicated the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat (Republican Turkish Party, CTP).

Now elected President of the Republic, Demetris Christofias is due to resign from the management of his party. The new Head of State is also Prime Minister and will take office on 29th February.

jfd disse...

Pronto, desculpem lá a extensão dos comentários mas era para partilhar info pertinente. Afinal, como diz bem o post do Zé (...)O Chipre é o primeiro Estado-Membro da União Europeia a eleger um Presidente comunista(...)

É interessante ler especialmente este último comentário, revela o principal relativamente ao Demetris Christofias...

Se o Zé me permite uma pergunta, tendo em vista esta info extra, será que como Europeus, deveremos temer este eurocéptico?

PS - já estava a preparar o post desde ontem, mas, quem foi ao mar...!

A info foi recolhida de
http://www.robert-schuman.org/oee.php?num=488

Anónimo disse...

Será um comunista a força mais indicada para negociar com o turco Erdogan?

Quem manda no norte do Chipre é a Turquia e eu duvido que eles estejam dispostos a dar mais do que ter aceite o reconhecimento e a integração do Chipre não-turco na UE. Pelo menos antes de haver um compromisso mais sólido da parte desta em relação às negociações com a Turquia.

Paulo Colaço disse...

Esta situação poderá fazer mudar os livros de ciência política... :)