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Roundup: Riot police called in to restore order at stormy session of Cypriot parliament

Xinhua, April 7, 2017 Adjust font size:

When tempers ran out of control during a parliamentary debate in Cyprus over a controversial law, anti-riot police were called in on Friday to eject heckling supporters of an extreme right-wing party.

After a four-hour acrimonious debate, the ruling right-wing DISY party and left-wing main opposition AKEL party joined forces to pass a law by a majority of 30 to 20, in the 56-member chamber. Five Members of Parliament (MPs) were not present and the speaker did not cast a vote.

The law reversed a previous parliamentary decision to commemorate in school classes a 1950 referendum in which Greek Cypriots had voted in favor of "enosis" or union with Greece. The previous decision led to the breakdown in UN-brokered negotiations attempting to reunify the divided island of Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

The law passed at Friday's session was a precondition by Turkish Cypriots, who pulled out of talks on Feb. 16, to return to negotiations with Greek Cypriots.

That point was taken up by the extreme right-wing ELAM party to hammer home its charge that the two largest parties in parliament had bowed to the demands of the Turkish side.

ELAM deputy Linos Papayiannis cast MPs supporting the law as "traitors," prompting DISY deputies to walk out and AKE MPs to demand a retraction.

But Papayiannis, instead of retracting, left the podium and walked menacingly toward an AKEL deputy, claiming that he had called him a bum and a nazi.

Other deputies blocked his way as he was trying to enter into the AKEL seating area.

At that point, ELAM supporters in the gallery, wearing black T-shirts with emblems of the party, booed deputies and called them traitors, prompting Speaker Demetris Syllouris to recess the session for 10 minutes and meanwhile called the riot police to evict the hecklers.

The police remained in the chamber for the rest of the debate and later had to offer protection outside parliament when ELAM supporters threatened AKEL Secretary General Andros Kyprianou.

It was the first confrontation inside the parliament since the 1960 declaration of independence and the first time that police had to be called inside the chamber to restore order.

The high-pitched tone of the debate is an indication of sensitivities and strong sentiments over the ongoing negotiations to reunite Cyprus.

Though the two largest parties, which muster 65 to 70 percent of popular support, have almost identical views on the federal solution being discussed, a medley of six smaller, but vocal parties are fiercely opposed to it. Endit