Press Conference of Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of AKEL
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 8th December 2015, Nicosia
We address you all in order to set out our positions on all the issues that concern you; issues on minor matters that determine your day-to-day life, as well as the big and important issues that shape and determine your very future.
Our country in recent years has faced unprecedented situations with complex and complicated problems. As AKEL we were guided in the formulation of our political positions and handling by how best the interests of Cyprus and the Cypriot people are served, both with regards the Cyprus problem and in relation to socio-economic issues.
The promises and pledges that were made during the pre-election campaign by Mr. Anastasiades were forgotten the day after the elections ended. The “Spring” that would come with the Anastasiades-DISY party government coming to power is evolving into a long winter for the majority of the people. The unity, seriousness and responsible attitude he promised with which he would govern have been lost along the way and they are still nowhere to be seen.
The Cyprus problem is a matter of the survival of Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latins. The solution must be based on the agreed framework. It should liberate us from the occupation. It must not allow any imperialist forces to interfere in our internal affairs. It should isolate any fascist and chauvinist elements, not allowing them to undermine it. The transformation of the Republic of Cyprus must lead to a united state based on a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation. It must lead to a united State with a single and indivisible sovereignty, a single citizenship and international personality, with political equality, without guarantees and rights of intervention and with the human rights and fundamental freedoms for all safeguarded.
AKEL is entitled to claim one thing: that it said and is telling the truth. During the Christofias administration the Cypriot people heard from the Government’s mouth the bitter historical truth; it heard about the need and possibility of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots of living together in their own common home ∙ the Republic of Cyprus. Today the majority of the people recognize the value of our positions and proposals back then.
AKEL also told the truth about the main perpetrators and culprits of the scandal of the Cyprus economy; about the responsibility of the executive boards of the banks; about the poor supervision of the then Governor of the Central Bank; about the scandalous cover and support to all of these forces given by political parties and a section of the mass media. Today the people have gradually begun to understand all the criminal mistakes committed by the banks.
Because we told the truth we were targeted and became under a ferocious organized campaign. They attempted the political and moral annihilation of AKEL. Despite the leveling and in several cases the vulgarity of this attack, we endured, stood our ground and did not yield. Now that we are in opposition, we consciously have chosen not to operate in a revanchist/retaliatory way. If AKEL did so, the country would have literally plunged into division and confrontation. Any hopes for a solution to the Cyprus problem would have been eroded.
That was also the reason why we decided to support the negotiation procedure from the very beginning, but without giving a blank check and a free hand. All this time we have exerted criticism there and where we felt that President Anastasiades acted based on criteria other than the achievement of progress. Currently negotiations are underway, following a period of not only stagnation, but also regression. AKEL will continue to follow developments and make its judgments accordingly.
The important thing for us is not to cultivate any illusions among the people, namely that somehow tomorrow morning we will have a referendum for a solution, or that the day after tomorrow morning we will wake up in a unitary state, and better than that of 1960.
Our people have had enough of rhetoric and slogans for so many years. It is thirsty for the truth. AKEL agrees that progress has been made; progress that was achieved by making use of the convergence achieved by Christofias-Talat. However, AKEL believes that the road to the solution of the Cyprus problem is not strewn with flowers. Turkey unfortunately has not given concrete examples of its will to change its intransigent positions. At the same time some of the positions of the Turkish Cypriot side, as they are proclaimed in public, are clashing with the convergences. As the given situation stands, it is self-evident that we face an uphill path; a hill which we have to climb to get to the top. Unfortunately however not everyone in the Greek Cypriot side is focused on the same goal. In addition to the objective difficulties we have to face, we also add the insistence of certain circles and forces to slide to idealist/perfect solutions. We insist that any going back and regressions from what has been agreed for decades will only result in the permanent partition of Cyprus. If this is what all those who are talking about a bi-communal but not about a bi-zonal solution have at the back of their minds, or those people who want a return to a unitary state, then they should state this clearly so that at least we can have a sincere discussion.
As AKEL, we choose to focus on the substance of the problem and not on slogans to serve internal consumption and pre-election considerations. If substantial progress is registered on the property issue, then we shall get close to an agreement on issues relating to the internal aspects. Following that we shall subsequently enter the final phase, which have to do with the chapters concerning the territorial issue, the question of security, guarantees and demilitarization. This is where Turkey will be called upon to prove that it wants a solution of the Cyprus problem.
Currently in the Turkish Cypriot community there is a leadership that wants a solution. The well-intentioned interests of Turkey also make a solution imperative for it, for several reasons. All this can and must be harnessed to solve the Cyprus problem. We appeal to all parties to rise to the occasion, to work together for the best for Cyprus and our people.
The policy pursued by the Government on socio-economic issues obliges us to resist its policies with all our strength. It obliges us to constantly seek alliances and cooperation inside and outside the House of Representatives to reverse these anti-social and destructive policies. One statistic is enough to prove whose interests are served by the policy being imposed. The richest 10% of Cypriot society has increased their income during the last three years by 3.4%, while 90% of society has seen their revenues decline by an average of 8%. Rightfully Anastasiades and the governing DISY party have gained the title of the government for the privileged and select few.
Speaking to the people every day, one can conclude that the people’s depreciation of all that affects the country conceals the absence of hope. Unfortunately the majority of the people feel disillusionment. They believe that nothing can change. They don’t have any hope that better days will come. This is in part logical, considering that we now live in a different reality. Many of those working are called upon to support their families on wages of 500 euros. Thousands of unemployed young people are sending their resumes and CV’s everywhere, waiting for a reply that never comes. Single parents, the disabled, poor pensioners and public assistance recipients are still waiting for a reply whether they can live a tolerable life on the government’s so-called minimum guaranteed income.
How is the Anastasiades-DISY party Government trying to give hope? Unfortunately it does so with lies. This does not just happen before the elections. We are not only referring to the “pledges” that were made that there wouldn’t be a haircut on bank deposits; that the welfare state will not be dismantled; that the profitable Semi-governmental organizations would not be privatized; that “spring” will come in 2013 with the assumption of the Anastasiades-DISY presidency. We are also referring to the lies that followed the decisions agreed by Anastasiades and the Eurogroup in March 2013; lies that harshly revealed the grim reality.
It’s the lies that investments are on their way; that loans will be lengthened and installments reduced without charging borrowers; that primary family homes will be protected and interest rates reduced; that those who are in need of public assistance will also be protected. This was the first round of lies. We are currently passing on to the next round of lies. After all the anti-social measures that have been imposed and after the House of Representatives passed all the anti-peoples laws, the government and DISY are trying to convince the people that everything is fine; that Cyprus is a successful economic history, that is to say, the notorious “success story” being propagated.
This is the biggest lie. There is no “success story”, because there are 70,000 unemployed people; because there are 30,000 young people who have already emigrated. There is no “success story” because 234,000 people live on the poverty line; because the public health sector is being systematically destroyed with the government’s daily blessing. There is no “success story” because 24.7% of children in Cyprus are threatened by poverty and social exclusion; because pensioner’s incomes fell by one third. There is no “success story” because only one in three young people are working, but survive on starvation wages; because Cyprus is the country with the biggest reduction in wages in all the EU countries. There is no “success story” because the purchasing power of the average wage in the coming year will go back to the level it was twenty years ago. Despite all this, the government insists that when we exit the Memorandum of Understanding it will implement the same anti-social policies. So what should the people hope for?
Even this hope that existed for an exit from the deadlocks by making use of the natural gas seems to be vanishing. All the plans drawn up by the previous Christofias government have been dismantled. We are in the end following developments. In addition, we have for some time been raising the need for a discussion to be waged on the issue of the banking union and the new trade and corporate relationship between the European Union and the US. No one however seems to be concerned about the issue.
With the much-advertised banking union, the European Union took control of the systemic banking institutions, arguing that this will improve its capabilities to forecast, prevent and solve future crises. In reality, it creates the conditions for the further consolidation and merger of banks to the benefit of the big banking corporations and giants.
As regards the new trade and corporate relationship between the EU and the US, this seeks to severely compress labour rights, ease regulations in the areas of the environment and food safety, as well as promoting the liberalization of the services market such as health, education and water. All of these policies seek to give more incentives to maximize the profits of the major multinational companies, ignoring the dangers for working people and SME’s. What measures does the Government intend to take against such policies in order to protect the already damaged economy of Cyprus? Nobody knows…
The DISY party-Anastasiades Government betrayed the hope it gave to all those who believed it. At the same time it also betrayed the trust a large section of the people of Cyprus showed in it. In the last three years we have lived through appalling and unprecedented developments which gave the impression that we do not live in a state governed by the rule of law. Institutions that in previous years were held in esteem were handed over to people who it was patently obvious could not serve them properly. The people the government appointed – the so-called “Excellent from the excellent” – proved to be inferior and below average. The doctrine of “whoever is not one of us is against us” has ruined public life. Institutions have been humiliated, exposing in many cases irreversibly the President. The established order and vested interests continue to act undisturbed, protecting their interests and customers on the backs of the people. Even what is considered as self-evident, namely that all those responsible for the collapse of the economy should be punished, ended up being a joke which disgusted those who follow developments.
We are not waiting in the corner to maliciously gloat over the government’s many mistakes, weaknesses, scandals and amateurisms. A Party with nine decades of life and struggles, which as both enemies and friends admit, always remains militant, responsible, serious and consistent, does not seek to tread upon corpses to get revenge. Our objectives and visions go far beyond the upcoming elections or any elections.
We are working with all our strength so that the day of a reunited federal Cyprus which will be a beacon and an example for the whole world will dawn. It will represent a contemporary model of harmonious coexistence of two communities of a different ethnicity, language and religion; two communities that will co-manage their own common state. Cyprus will be a country that will have managed to liberate itself from the armies and channel all its power and resources towards social investment and economic growth. AKEL, neither in the past, nor now either, will permit this hope to serve pre-election rhetoric and expediencies. On the contrary, we have been building this hope for years, little by little, step by step together with the progressive Turkish Cypriots on the solid foundations of rapprochement, reconciliation and mutual understanding so that we can bequeath it to the future generations.
We are working with all our strength to build again the hope, but also the dignity of our people. We have the power to do so. We are the only force that can stand consistently and uncompromisingly to defend the interests of the majority of the people. We are struggling to protect the primary family house and small commercial business. Unfortunately we face the refusal of the Government. But we persist in our struggle. We fight to save public wealth and assets. We clarify that if we do not succeed now when and where AKEL will participate in power we consider returning public wealth and assets to the state. We have tabled proposals to put order in the chaos caused by the application of the so-called Guaranteed Minimum Income. We have submitted a concrete proposal for alleviating small owners from the taxation of immovable property. We submit proposals ON education, tourism, energy and agricultural development. We do so with one goal: for Cyprus to again have a perspective for the future and to provide support to people so that they, the economy and the country get back on their feet.
