REPORTERNET.COM

It's been a long-time brewing but parliament finally passed a resolution censuring UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer on Thursday, around seven weeks before he drafts a crucial report on the status of the peace process.

That report will decide whether the two leaders go to an international conference for the “end-game” or the UN Good Offices pack up their bags and leave –assuming they can of course. Being branded an “undesirable” does not necessarily get you a ticket home.  
DIKO, EDEK, the Greens and EVROKO tried to pass amendments declaring Downer a persona non grata but cooler heads prevailed among the two main parties DISY and AKEL.
Instead, Downer was unanimously censured for “undermining” the Cyprus Republic and making “lop-sided and damaging statements” which go against UN resolutions on Cyprus.
MPs called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to “restore” the special advisor’s “objectivity and trustworthiness” though no clear guidelines were given on how the South Korean might go about it.
During the debate, Greens deputy Giorgos Perdikis told the Australian to “go home” while independent MP Zacharias Koulias accused him of operating as “an ambassador for the Turks”.
According to EVROKO leader Demetris Syllouris, Downer should never have been allowed to come to Cyprus in the first place.
“He is clearly promoting the positions of Turkey and leading the Cyprus problem to an end which favours Turkish interests. We do not want a second Greek Cypriot ‘no’ but any plan which clearly serves the interests of Turkey like the Annan plan did will not pass,” he said.
International relations expert Hubert Faustmann said the resolution was clearly for domestic consumption.




(source: www.cyprus-mail.com)