The following article caught my attention in today's issue of The Cyprus Mail:
Time to overcome ingrained habits
IN LESS than a week’s time, Cypriots will join an estimated 375 million people across the EU in the opportunity to elect their representatives to a new European Parliament. Unlike their fellow Europeans, most Cypriot voters will dutifully go to polling stations and cast their ballot, exercising their democratic right in one of the world’s biggest elections.Of course, the turnout will have much more to do with the ingrained habit of voting than with any enthusiasm for the institution being elected – a result both of the compulsory participation in national elections, and of the hyper-politicisation of everyday life in a country where prime time talk shows still feature politicians rather than celebrities, and party political allegiance spreads its tentacles into everything from football to the coffee that you drink.It’s hardly a surprise that the European election campaign is being treated by the parties as a real-time opportunity to test the political waters, just over a year after the Presidential elections – an extremely useful gauge of popularity at a time when coalition partners appear to have increasingly itchy feet. Indeed, only a desperate idealist would expect genuine European issues to be at the forefront of the campaign, in a political society where the Cyprus problem juggernaut time and again crushes debate on any other issue – even those of immediate national concern, let alone those perceived as remote.But we should not be too harsh on Cyprus: how many people in the UK will vote on European issues? Indeed how many will vote at all? A far lower percentage than in Cyprus. And those that do cast their vote will do so based on very domestic concerns, such as the current MPs’ expenses scandal, likely to benefit fringe parties in protest at the mainstream. And it’s not just European elections: around the world, local elections are almost always fought on national issues, providing an opportunity to punish or reward the government of the day.And yet it’s a great pity that almost no one across the European Union gives the European Parliament elections the attention they deserve – especially given the repeated complaints about the democratic deficit in the EU. There’s a widespread misconception that the European Parliament is a pointless institution, little more than a gravy train for politicians past their prime.And yet anyone concerned about the democratic accountability of the European Union has a duty to vote on Saturday. The European Parliament is the one European institution to be directly elected by the people, and the EU’s executive is directly accountable to Parliament: MEPs must approve the President and members of the European Commission before they can take office, and Parliament has a right to sack them. What’s more, it is the European Parliament that holds the purse strings of the EU, and has the last word on its annual budget, and Parliament that passes laws that end up on the statute books of all 27 countries of the European Union.So while our politicians are spouting on about the Cyprus problem, MEPs in their last term have passed laws about everything from recycling to maternity leave, pollution caps to the right to cross-border health care, passenger rights to cheaper GSM roaming charges, working hours to airline safety, sanctions against employers of illegal immigrants to cleaner bathing waters on our beaches. And let’s not forget that it was the European Parliament that blew the whistle on CIA rendition flights and the complicity of European member states in the illegal transportation of detainees.MEPs are dealing with very real issues, their votes having a very real impact on our everyday lives. And while the six Cypriot representatives elected next weekend are unlikely to sway the votes in plenary, their role in looking out for their constituents’ interests cannot be overestimated. They will lobby to amend legislation, they will build alliances, they will work in committee, they will draft reports, and their success or failure will probably have a far greater impact on our daily lives than the work of our national deputies at the House of Representatives in Nicosia.Come Saturday at the polling stations, the voters should not reward the loudest patriot and the slickest slogans. In a Parliament of 785 members working in 23 languages, bombastic talk from one of the smallest members of the Union will carry little weight. In order to leverage influence, the members we elect must work hard, understand the nature of compromise, and above all grasp the bigger picture of the institution they will join. If they do that, they will build a credibility among their colleagues that will allow them to defend our interests in a forum that really matters to our daily lives.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
IN LESS than a week’s time, Cypriots will join an estimated 375 million people across the EU in the opportunity to elect their representatives to a new European Parliament. Unlike their fellow Europeans, most Cypriot voters will dutifully go to polling stations and cast their ballot, exercising their democratic right in one of the world’s biggest elections.Of course, the turnout will have much more to do with the ingrained habit of voting than with any enthusiasm for the institution being elected – a result both of the compulsory participation in national elections, and of the hyper-politicisation of everyday life in a country where prime time talk shows still feature politicians rather than celebrities, and party political allegiance spreads its tentacles into everything from football to the coffee that you drink.It’s hardly a surprise that the European election campaign is being treated by the parties as a real-time opportunity to test the political waters, just over a year after the Presidential elections – an extremely useful gauge of popularity at a time when coalition partners appear to have increasingly itchy feet. Indeed, only a desperate idealist would expect genuine European issues to be at the forefront of the campaign, in a political society where the Cyprus problem juggernaut time and again crushes debate on any other issue – even those of immediate national concern, let alone those perceived as remote.But we should not be too harsh on Cyprus: how many people in the UK will vote on European issues? Indeed how many will vote at all? A far lower percentage than in Cyprus. And those that do cast their vote will do so based on very domestic concerns, such as the current MPs’ expenses scandal, likely to benefit fringe parties in protest at the mainstream. And it’s not just European elections: around the world, local elections are almost always fought on national issues, providing an opportunity to punish or reward the government of the day.And yet it’s a great pity that almost no one across the European Union gives the European Parliament elections the attention they deserve – especially given the repeated complaints about the democratic deficit in the EU. There’s a widespread misconception that the European Parliament is a pointless institution, little more than a gravy train for politicians past their prime.And yet anyone concerned about the democratic accountability of the European Union has a duty to vote on Saturday. The European Parliament is the one European institution to be directly elected by the people, and the EU’s executive is directly accountable to Parliament: MEPs must approve the President and members of the European Commission before they can take office, and Parliament has a right to sack them. What’s more, it is the European Parliament that holds the purse strings of the EU, and has the last word on its annual budget, and Parliament that passes laws that end up on the statute books of all 27 countries of the European Union.So while our politicians are spouting on about the Cyprus problem, MEPs in their last term have passed laws about everything from recycling to maternity leave, pollution caps to the right to cross-border health care, passenger rights to cheaper GSM roaming charges, working hours to airline safety, sanctions against employers of illegal immigrants to cleaner bathing waters on our beaches. And let’s not forget that it was the European Parliament that blew the whistle on CIA rendition flights and the complicity of European member states in the illegal transportation of detainees.MEPs are dealing with very real issues, their votes having a very real impact on our everyday lives. And while the six Cypriot representatives elected next weekend are unlikely to sway the votes in plenary, their role in looking out for their constituents’ interests cannot be overestimated. They will lobby to amend legislation, they will build alliances, they will work in committee, they will draft reports, and their success or failure will probably have a far greater impact on our daily lives than the work of our national deputies at the House of Representatives in Nicosia.Come Saturday at the polling stations, the voters should not reward the loudest patriot and the slickest slogans. In a Parliament of 785 members working in 23 languages, bombastic talk from one of the smallest members of the Union will carry little weight. In order to leverage influence, the members we elect must work hard, understand the nature of compromise, and above all grasp the bigger picture of the institution they will join. If they do that, they will build a credibility among their colleagues that will allow them to defend our interests in a forum that really matters to our daily lives.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
This article is the subjective opinion of a "journalist" who doesn't even have the courage to sign off. Therefore, it is the newspaper's responsibility for publishing the subjective opinion of an anonymous person who, I am afraid, hasn't made a basic research:
- According to official polls more than 75% of the Greek Cypriots will cast their vote (and the number is expected to increase) not out of habit due to the fact that our national elections are compulsory, but because the Greeks of Cyprus have decided to make their own choice!
- Of course domestic issues will play an important role! Is it different in other European countries, I wonder? Of course, we will vote those who we believe will represent us best in the European Union. Luckily, the anonymous writer acknowledges, more or less, this fact! Kind of contradicting himsself / herself or what?
- The person who wrote this article hides behind anonimity because he / she is the one to be the victim of ingrained habits - not the average Greek Cypriot who is fully aware of his European identity.
