February 7, 2008. Copyright 2008, Graphic News. All rights reserved

President Papadopoulos leads crowded field in Cyprus poll
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, February 7, Graphic News: Five years after he snatched a surprise victory to become their president, Tassos Papadopoulos must persuade Greek Cypriots yet again that he is their best hope of finding a way out of the deadlock with the islandÕs Turkish minority if he is to win a second term.

With just days to go before polls on February 17, Papadopoulos, 74, holds a slim lead over his closest rivals in a crowded field of nine candidates: those jostling for his job are led by communist Akel leader Demetris Christofias and MEP Ioannis Kasoulides. If there is no outright winner, a run-off vote will be held a week later.

As in every election in Cyprus in living memory, the burning issue is reunification of the island -- divided for the past 33 years. Plans for a UN blueprint have stalled and the status of the Turkish Cypriot north is a stumbling block in AnkaraÕs talks on joining the EU. 

Early in 2008 Papadopoulos said Cyprus was now in Òa stronger positionÓ to pursue a solution to the problem of division. While the canny Papadopoulos has certainly adapted to the realities of modern international politics, itÕs not hard to understand the sceptics who recall the days when the conservative hardliner dug his heels in against the Turks. On paper, at least, he is an unlikely man to broker peace.

Born in Nicosia on January 7, 1934, Tassos Papadopoulos trained as a barrister in GreyÕs Inn, London. In the 1950s he was active in the political wing of the Cypriot guerrilla movement against British colonial rule, and in the 60s he was second in command of the militant Akritas organisation whose goal was to rid the island of Turkish Cypriots. Years of conflict led to the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974.

He maintained this attitude towards the Turkish Cypriots for years to follow: in the 1980s he staunchly opposed UN plans to reconcile the two communities.

Papadopoulos, who in 1959 he became the youngest cabinet minister in the first government of independent Cyprus, has held several top-flight cabinet posts during his more than 40-year career, including minister of health, minister of the interior, and minister of agriculture and natural resources. In 2000 he was elected president of the Democratic Party.

In 2003 he campaigned and won the presidency with the pledge that he would secure the best deal for Greek Cypriots in reunification talks, and lead a united Cyprus into the European Union. But in a referendum on a UN reunification plan in 2004 he urged his people to vote No, saying: ÒI received a state, I will not deliver a communityÓ, and his position was considered a key reason for Greek Cypriot rejection of the scheme.

In the 1990s he was considered persona non grata in some quarters because of his links with a Belgrade bank through which Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic allegedly channelled illegal funds for his armed forces in the Balkans.

Greek Cyprus was allowed to join the EU in 2004 and PapadopoulosÕ government has taken the credit for its booming economy since. At the same time, his government has come under criticism for its management of water resources on the drought-plagued island.
/ENDS