CYPRUS:All three candidates in Sunday's presidential poll vow to seek a solution to the reintegation of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, writes Michael Jansenin Nicosia
Cypriots will vote on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election which could lead to the resumption of talks on the reunfication of the divided island.
Opinion polls show that incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos leads the field with 34 per cent of the vote, chief challenger and house president Dimitris Christofias has 32 to 33.5 per cent and former foreign minister Ioannis Kasolides 30.5 per cent.
Papadopoulos, who is supported by the centre-right Democratic Party and the socialists, and Christofias, general secretary of Akel, the Communist party, are expected to reach the second round on February 24th. If Kasolides, who is backed by the rightist Democratic Rally, is eliminated, his party could urge its voters to cast their ballots for Christofias. But it is not certain that right-wingers will agree.
The result could determine whether the UN resumes efforts to reunite the Greek Cypriot majority republic in the south, an EU member, with the Turkish Cypriot breakaway entity in the north.
All three candidates vow to seek a solution that will reintegrate the territory of the island, its society, economy, and institutions. However, Papadopoulos is considered a hardliner who is unwilling to make concessions to the Turkish Cypriots. He asked Greek Cypriots to reject a UN plan put forward in 2004 by former secretary general Kofi Annan and is criticised for not pursuing reconciliation between the two communities.
Christofias, another opponent of the Annan plan, has long worked hard for bicommunal rapprochement and pledges to launch an all-out campaign to secure this goal. His spokesmen, however, admit that Ankara not the Turkish Cypriots will ultimately decide the fate of Cyprus since Turkey, which occupied 35 per cent of the island in 1974, continues to dominate the north. Kasolides originally favoured the plan and is viewed as a concilator but argues that a new federal framework must be negotiated. None of the three are prepared to accept a return to the Annan plan and there are few substantive differences between them on the shape of a settlement.
Ankara is determined to hang on to northern Cyprus until Turkey achieves its goal of gaining admission to the EU. But the republic, which supports Turkey's bid, has vowed to veto admission if the island remains divided. Right-wing Turkish Cypriots seeking an independent state hope Papadopoulos will win because the UN could be less willing to restart talks if he is involved. Those who want reunification prefer his rivals. Both communities are concerned about the likelihood of a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo on election day. Those who long for reunification fear international recognition of Kosovo could open doors for the Turkish Cypriot entity, so far recognised only by Turkey.
The trio have intensified their campaigns over the past week by sending out teams of door-to-door canvassers, staging concerts, boosting television advertisements, flooding newspapers with written material, and flying in Cypriots living abroad. Since voting is compulsory, a high per- centage of the 516,000 Greek Cypriot and the 390 Turkish Cypriot voters will cast ballots.