ard mhacha - you say the 1973 plebiscite was a complete farce, but look carefully at the figures - despite the boycott by whomsoever, there was still a majority of the POPULATION (not just a majority of the voters) in favour of the status quo. In a democracy, that's all a government has to go on, so even if the event had not been "boycotted", the result would still have been the same. (And of course you wouldn't be the first to claim that a vote which went against you was "a complete farce").

What would then have happened if the government had decided to ignore the results and start to support unification against the declared wishes of the majority of the population?

You say that subsequent polls have been different - perhaps you've also noticed that the government's stance is now different? All they have ever needed is a mandate from a majority of the population.

Terry