Reunification:social meaning and political significance

The solution of the Cyprus problem and the re-unification of the country constitutes a rapture with the existing socio-political status quo and the transition to a new historical era. The magnitude and the multiple dimensions of this rapture are often difficult to conceptualize,since we are incapable of thinking outside the partitionist context. Here lies the power of partition – as a hegemonic way of thinking that reflects and reproduces ethnocentrism and territorial division. However the reality of partition is being questioned at least for one decade. Today the conditions of its transcendence exist. What is needed is the more direct participation of society in the reunification process and this can only be achieved through the development of a political discourse and a practice that illuminates the historical significance and the beneficial social consequences of reunification.

First of all the end of the ethnic conflict through an agreement by the leaders of the two communities constitutes a historical transition from (cold) war to (lasting) peace. This is a total process that is bound to change the framework of the political conception of the Cypriot society. The reunited Cyprus will differ importantly from its two constituent parts,because through the political compromise that will be codified in its constitution,we will have not just a new federal structure,but also an entirely new political system. Especially through the new unificatory element that Christofias and Talat have accepted (as the expression of the powers of reunification that elected them),the weighted (to one fifth) participation of the one community in the election of the leader of the other,communal nationalisms and maximalisms are de facto marginalised,leaving the field free for the liberal and socialist forces to compete for power,each with its own program,without the need for paradoxical and unholy alliances with the nationalist forces of the two sides. Simultaneously through the reunification of the state the potentiality of bi-communal political partnerships,common trade union action and mixed organisations at the civil society level opens up.

The most direct benefit however from reunification will be the demilitarization of the country. Demilitarization does not only mean the removal and disbandment of the armies. Most importantly it presupposes the ideological defeat of militarism (one of the basic bastions of patriarchy as well) as a mode of thought and it includes the condemnation of violence as a method of exerting political pressure and the final exclusion of war as a policy option. It means the end of military service and the saving of a lot of money currently wasted on arms and commissions that accompany them. It means the final blow on the militarists of the two communities and on the influence of the motherlands that control the Cypriot armed forces north and south of the dead zone. The full demilitarization of our island,one of the most militarised zones of the planet,not only would create the conditions for the building of ethnic peace internally but could also serve as an example of ethnic conflict resolution internationally. Taking into account the fact that mass war violence and its threat has been the protagonist in Cypriot history for more than half a century,the political decision to finish it will signal the passage to a new social reality,liberated from the fear that accompanies it. The reunification of the island can only be accomplished on the ruins of militarist logic in which the two antagonistic nationalisms are embedded in.

At the socio-economic level,the reunification process can bring specific positive results for the workers. The reunification of the economy will open up the issue of common trade union activism through common demands,coordinated strategy and policy of claims. The reunification of the working class (that has been divided on an ethnic basis historically much later that the bourgeois class) is valuable in itself,since this would create the conditions for a workers’front against capital throughout the Cypriot territory. Most importantly though,the bi-communal cooperation of Cypriot workers will create a culture of multicultural tolerance and cooperation with the immigrant workers. Bi-communalism remains the Cypriot road towards multiculturalism and internationalism. The coexistence,interaction and mutual influence in a unified labour relations system can more specifically lead to the development of trade union activity in the t/c private sector and the strengthening of trade unionism and consciousness amongst the g/c.

The solution of the Cyprus problem through the reunification of the country will regenerate the public sphere,as the ending of the dominance of the “national question” will create the conditions for the opening up of other important issues that concern our everyday lives. As a society we will be able to start talking about the integration of migrants,the protection of the environment,the quality of our lives,transport,health etc. The logic of national unity will no longer be able to impose silence and monologue. We will be able to put forward demands concerning the production and the distribution of wealth,as the “class question” will be the new “national question”. We could for example demand the expropriation of Church property. The economic development will be planned comprehensively and the rebuilding of the huge dead zone and the northern part can take place with rules and regulations and not arbitrarily and haphazardly as it happened in the south and as it happens now in the north. Finally at the level of the social and political rights,ending the state of exception and the law of necessity will have liberatory consequences for citizenship,as the concept of human rights will be denationalised creating the conditions for new social and political claims.

The reunification of the country will not just be the result of a historical compromise. It is that too. More importantly however it will be the start of a new era. Where the new political framework will allow for the modernisation and democratization of society. Where the next generation will grow up without the nationalist poison that reproduces the dialectic of intolerance. Where peace will define normality and war will be the exception. Where we will be able as a society to understand and transcend the catastrophic past of our history.