MP Kate Clerides

By Janet McMahon

True, Member of Parliament Kate Clerides is a member of the ruling Democratic Rally party, a trait she shares with a majority of her colleagues. Only two of her 55 fellow MPs are women, however, and none of the others can claim that their father is the president of Cyprus, or that their office is in the presidential palace.

It is apparent upon meeting the second-term parliamentarian that it is the first two characteristics, rather than the latter two, that define her political identity. Clerides told the Washington Report that she began working with her father’s party 13 or 14 years ago in order to get more women—particularly rural women—involved in the political process.

“I’ve always been interested in social issues,” she said, recalling that, following the Turkish invasion in 1974, she took journalists to refugee camps after being seconded to the Red Cross from her work in social research centers. Her educational background speaks as well to her sense of how to effect social change. After receiving her B.S. in sociology from London University, she went on to earn her master’s degree in political science from New York University. Returning to London, she became a barrister and worked for the International Planned Parenthood Federation there.

Back in Cyprus, she was elected to the Nicosia municipal council in 1986 and to parliament in 1991. Her prime focus in parliament, she said, is the “legal and social status of women and bicommunal peace-building—which has been at a standstill since 1997.”

Clerides considers herself “part of the general effort to increase the representation of women in decision-making bodies.” In contrast to their center-right counterparts in the United States, the women’s section of her party will be proposing a 30 percent quota for women both within the party structure as well as on election ballots. While this leaves much to be accomplished in the legislative and executive branches, six of Cyprus’ 35 ambassadors are women--including the ambassador to the United States.

A member of the International Conference of Conservative Women Parliamentarians, Clerides appreciates the fact that her situation is not typical. “Most women are not in top positions,” she observed. “While theoretically they enjoy equal pay and equal opportunity, they are the ones who must take care of the family,” thereby limiting their options and often, as a result, their opportunities for advancement.

(Her comments were echoed by another Cypriot professional woman, a single mother, who noted that, while her country’s laws mandate equal treatment for women, attitudes are not as readily reformed—especially when women become mothers as well.)

A related issue which concerns Clerides is domestic abuse. “Yes, we do have a problem,” she acknowledged, but pointed to such developments as legislation making it easier to report abuse, and the establishment of a women’s shelter as indications that the problem is being taken seriously. The Society for the Prevention of Violence in the Family, a Nicosia-based NGO, has developed a training program for police responding to domestic abuse complaints.

Education, which is free in Cyprus, nevertheless often takes different directions for boys and girls. All Cypriot children attend school until age 15, at which point they either go to a university or to a vocational or technical training school. It is usually boys who take the latter route or go into the army.

With the establishment of the University of Cyprus several years ago, higher education opportunities for girls have improved. Since most daughters stay in Cyprus, Clerides said, whereas boys are more likely to go abroad to study, the lack of a national university often meant the end of a woman’s formal education. Today, the legislator said, “There is a predominance of women at the University of Cyprus.”

As her earlier work with Planned Parenthood attests, Clerides is also concerned with family planning. The rate of population increase on Cyprus has declined from 2.70 percent to 2.11 percent and is relatively stable at the lower rate, she said. Most families now have fewer than four children—which means that Cyprus, like many industrial countries, faces a “declining, and aging, population,” Clerides noted.

A long-term thinker in diplomatic as well as domestic issues, Clerides believes that the partition of Cyprus ultimately “won’t withstand the pressures of time,” describing the current situation as “illogical.”

“Turkey must come back to high-level talks,” she insisted, recognizing at the same time that Ankara “must be offered something it really wants” if the Cyprus problem is to be solved. That something, she believes, is EU membership. “Turkey needs to believe that eventually it will become a member,” she said, adding that regional stability will be jeopardized if Turkey is “locked out.”

Clerides maintained that Cyprus’ application for EU membership provides an opportunity for a “quid pro quo,” whereby Turkish willingness to negotiate on Cyprus, and agree to the island’s reunification, would enhance its chances for EU membership. A reunified Cyprus would include Muslim Turkish Cypriots as well as Christians—a positive precedent for the EU as well.

Clerides fears, however, that Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash “does not really want a reunified Cyprus, and is emphasizing a pan-Turkish approach. “Only Europe and the U.S. can pressure the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot governments,” she stated, “and begin the slow process of Turkey’s meeting the requirements [of EU membership] so that, in 30 or 40 years, Ankara does not find itself completely isolated. A stable Europe that reached as far as Turkey would be a good thing for the rest of the world.”

Clerides shares with her fellow Cypriots a passion for her country and its ultimate reunification. Being a practical politician who, while not always accepting them, acknowledges current realities, this sophisticated and dedicated public servant also acknowledges that “It’s easy for us in Cyprus to overestimate our importance.”

Janet McMahon is the managing editor of the Washington Report.