CHURCH OF CYPRUS WILL HOLD ELECTIONS SEPTEMBER 24

C O N F I D E N T I A L NICOSIA 000911

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2016
TAGS: PHUM CY
SUBJECT: CHURCH OF CYPRUS WILL HOLD ELECTIONS SEPTEMBER 24

REF: NICOSIA 642

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald L. Schlicher, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary: Father Isaiah Kykkotis of the Kykkos
Monastery updated us on June 8 on the Church of Cyprus's
upcoming elections. Cyprus's bishops declared the
Archbishop's throne vacant at the enlarged Orthodox synod
hosted by the Ecumenical Patriarch in Switzerland in May.
They later agreed to schedule elections for September 24,
bypassing current church canon that mandates elections within
40 days of a vacancy declaration. According to Isaiah,
debate over the elections date has centered on whether or not
to use government lists of registered voters instead of
onerously preparing island-wide Church lists parish by
parish. In the meantime, the campaign has started, and the
Bishop of Paphos is already pledging, if elected, to fully
support the GOC's Cyprus policy. The Bishop of Kykkos, for
his part, is also courting the TV cameras. We expect that
the bishops' political statements will increase over the
summer. Cyprus's bishops will likely be stepping up their
campaigns in the summer. End summary.


2. (C) Father Kykkotis noted that at the enlarged Orthodox
synod hosted by the Ecumenical Patriarch and attended by the
patriarchs of Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch in
Switzerland May 17-18, the bishops declared the current
Archbishop of Cyprus, Chryssostomos, to be "honorably in
pension." The bishops then agreed to hold elections within
40 days of the vacancy declaration (according to church
canon). Upon returning to Cyprus, however, the Holy Synod
determined on May 24 that this would be logistically
impossible, and unanimously agreed to bend church rules in
order to use government lists of registered voters. The
bishops concluded that preparing new Church lists parish by
parish would have been nearly impossible due to population
increases since the last elections in 1977, the division of
the island, and the scattering of parishioners still
considered to be attached to "occupied" parishes. According
to Father Kykkotis, the Synod effectively agreed to merge
church voter districts with municipal districts, and the date
of the first round of elections was set for September 24.
The Bishop of Paphos commented to the press that waiting
until September would also boost voter turnout by allowing
people time to return from their vacations.


3. (C) The Bishop of Larnaca (Kition) later expressed some
discontent with using the government lists, but at a meeting
of the Holy Synod June 8-9, the bishops ironed out their
differences and agreed to form new Church regional lists only
in cases where Church information did not coincide with the
state lists. In order for the Church to use the government
lists, the law mandates a waiting period of two to three
weeks during which time people may object to the use of their
personal information. While Father Kykkotis explained that
the Church hopes to include only those who intend to vote on
the lists, the press characterized the Church's vetting of
the government lists as "weeding out heretics and persons of
a different religious persuasion." Once vetting is
completed, the three stages of elections will begin: local
parishes will elect "special representatives," who next
nominate a limited number of "general representatives" (or
electors). Finally, the electors and the Holy Synod vote
separately.


4. (C) Meanwhile, the Bishops in the running to succeed
Chryssostomos are stepping up their campaigns. Last week,
the Bishop of Kykkos, Nikiforos, the putative front-runner
who has already printed up a glossy brochure touting his
accomplishments, invited Ambassador Schlicher to join him on
a visit to a bicommunal drug treatment facility. "There will
be TV cameras," he observed with a wink. The firebrand
Bishop of Paphos has also been hitting the stump and leaking
to the press his "instrumental role" in convincing the
Patriarch of Moscow to advocate for a Russian veto of a
Security Council resolution in advance of the Annan Plan
referenda that was seen as unfavorable to the Greek Cypriot
position.


5. (C) Comment: The broadly "pro-settlement" bishops --
Kykkos, Morphou and Trimithus -- would have preferred early
elections. The September date represents a modest victory
for the hard-liners -- Paphos, Kition and Kyrenia. Although
the Bishop of Kykkos is still considered the favorite, early
polls suggest that Nikiforos and Paphos could cripple each
other and open the door for the more soft-spoken and
"spiritual" (by reputation) Bishop of Limassol (Athanasios).
In any event, we can look forward to a long, hot summer of
campaigning by the men in black. End comment.
SCHLICHER