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The past few days we have enjoyed a relative lull in petty political bickering by immature party leaders, perhaps out of respect to the man who has shown levels of political grandeur and individual humility, at a time when ambition, selfishness and greed seem to have overtaken all else.
Even the civil servants’ trade union decided to hold back on its stupid two-hour warning strike that was supposed to take place on Thursday, to protest the administration’s plan to tripm a paltry 3% off the incompetent government workers’ 13th month bonus. At a time when many in the private sector have not earned such a bonus in years and have even seen their wages cut by as much as 40%, Pasidy’s action would have been in the poorest of taste and down right criminal.
On the other hand, the messages that were trumpeted by so many friends that Glafcos Clerides embraced, focused on the brilliance of the man, the purity of his soul, the high standard of ethos in everything he did and the passion with which he dedicated himself to all causes – political, social, historical.
The trouble is, many will soon go back to being the cheats and liars they have been all these years, themselves having learnt very little from the statesman we had but appreciated so little. But that was perhaps his character, to look ahead and ignore the trivial attacks on his name or frivolous criticism of his actions.
History will judge whether Glafcos Clerides was right in taking on the ‘big boys’ with his S300 missile adventure and then backing down, a decision that was imposed on him by Mother Greece. Historians will also determine if he was the only person with the foresight to want to conclude a peace deal for Cyprus, regardless if the Annan Plan had its faults.
True, his dedication to the Cyprus Problem meant that he paid less attention to the economy during his ten-year in office. Then again, have those that followed done any better?
If we are to learn anything from this true patriot, who loved his country probably more than anyone else in the past four decades, it is to at least emulate the clarity of his thinking, think about the better good of the nation and respect his opponents.
Our present-day leaders have a long way to go…
