STATEMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF AKEL ON THE EUROGROUP AGREEMENT
Press Office C.C. of AKEL, 25th March 2013, Nicosia
The agreement reached by the Eurogroup in the morning was the climax of the first phase of the Troika’s plans against the Cypriot people. The agreement not only does not help tackle the problems facing the economy, but only deepens the crisis as it will lead to more painful consequences to our country and people. The result will lead to higher unemployment, the implementation of additional austerity measures, cuts and privatizations, causing huge problems for small and medium businesses forcing them to close down.
In recent days our European “partners” have revealed with cynicism that this was their plan from the very beginning. That is to say, they set out goals and followed a specific course for their implementation.
As AKEL, we had pointed out from the outset that the course followed by the Troika to address the economic crisis was a dead-end. The attempt to rescue the Euro through the three pillars of austerity, cuts and privatizations simply deepened the recession even more and led the countries and peoples of southern Europe to disaster. Unfortunately, the ruling circles of the European Union stubbornly insist on these dead-end policies which do not lead to development. Our confinement in these modes of thinking, as the Anastasiades government is acting, does not create any prospect of overcoming problems, but instead burdens working people’s shoulders with enormous negative consequences.
Our option as a people is to free ourselves from this framework of reasoning, resist the Troika’s threats and seek a solution outside this framework.
Mr. Anastasiades during the election campaigned for the vote of the people of Cyprus and took the mandate, promising to improve the agreement in principle of the Memorandum of November 2012. He based his position on the friendly relations with the German Chancellor A. Merkel and the other European leaders. In the end he found out in the harshest way that the only thing his “friends” were interested in was to serve their own interests rather than support the Republic of Cyprus. When we pointed out this brutal reality during the Christofias administration they mocked us. Now it has been proved that the only thing the European “partners” were focused on was to constantly put before him blackmailing dilemmas and he, in turn, is doing the same to the Cypriot people. Unfortunately Mr. Anastasiades in just three weeks has set aside all that he had promised to the Cypriot people.
In all this procedure, we regret to note that he didn’t accept to have a real discussion on the proposal for seeking a solution outside the Troika’s framework. He merely informed us about the government’s handling. Given that leading officials of the DISY party provocatively declare that Mr. Anastasiades had secured the agreement of the political parties before proceeding to accept the agreement last night, I emphasize that this is a complete lie. Mr Anastasiades informed the political parties about the agreement he had concluded. Neither did he ask, nor did he have our support. Besides, all this time we have repeatedly underlined that our position was to seek a solution outside the Troika.
It is our belief that the Anastasiades – Eurogroup agreement is the beginning of new woes for Cyprus and our people. It is the duty of the political parties to project a way out to the people and bring back the hope and perspective. We assure the people that this is what AKEL will do by taking initiatives towards both the Government and the political parties to start a dialogue that will lead to the formulation of a proposal for an exit from this crisis.
At the same time we propose and insist on the following:
1. The holding of a referendum so that the Cypriot people will decide on the Anastasiades-Troika agreement. These decisions will determine our future for many years and the people have every right to say their view.
2. We demand that the procedures to punish those responsible for all the problems besetting the Cyprus economy should be set in motion. For this purpose the Alvarez & Marshall Report should be handed directly to the House of Representatives and the Attorney General.
3. We call on the Governor of the Central Bank to submit to the House of Representatives the names of all those who during the recent period had taken money en masse out of the country from the Cypriot banks and who hold political or state posts. The investigation must be extended to their family relatives as well.
We address the Cypriot people, declaring that we are facing very difficult times. We went through very difficult times in the past too. We did not yield or surrender. . Nor will we yield and surrender now. We will not yield but resist, waging the battle and we will win.
