Different philsophies in Europe are confronting in the upcoming Euroelections
Excerpts from the speech of Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL, at the presentation of European election candidates in the Pafos district
20th March 2014, Pafos
Speaking at the presentation of the AKEL-Left-New Forces candidates in Paphos, the General Secretary of AKEL Andros Kyprianou stated, among other things, the following:
“Whether or not everyone admits it or not, there are two fundamental philosophies that will confront each other in these elections. One of the philosophies neither wants, nor indeed can change things. This is because because it is ideologically identified with the EU Directives that lead to the impoverishment of the peoples. It is ideologically positioned in the forces of conservatism; forces that do not want to change not one bit of the Memoranda that have driven whole nations into austerity, recession and misery. This is the philosophy that the Cypriot people have been suffering from since last March; the same philosophy that forced it to succumb to unacceptable demands of the creditors.
The other philosophy is the one that guides AKEL all the years of its presence and action in the European Parliament. It is the philosophy that denounces the dogmatic and extreme tackling of each country’s economic situation from Brussels. It is the philosophy that had correctly warned that the Lisbon Treaty’s promise of ensuring the welfare of the peoples of Europe and all the talk about solidarity would remain empty slogans. It is the philosophy that adopts a critical view of the ruling policies and puts up resistance; the philosophy asserting radically different priorities focused on social development, for protection from unemployment and flexible forms of precarious and low-paid employability. It is the philosophy centred on the need to upgrade democratic processes, the social protection of all those in need and the protection of the environment.
AKEL’s positions and assessments on the policies of the European Union have been fully confirmed because they have been formulated dialectically, without any illusions and myths about “partners”, “friends” and a “family of angels.” We will refer to some characteristic examples.
When the Cypriot Parliament was called upon to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon, AKEL pointed out that the neoliberal model cannot meet the people’s needs, presenting figures on the rising unemployment and poverty, whilst simultaneously rejecting the unbridled competitiveness as a framework of the Treaty. What was the reply of the leader of the Democratic Rally party and current President of the Republic then? He said, “Certain circles and forces remain captives of outdated approaches and stubbornly refuse to proceed to implement those changes to promote reform and modernization that will boost productivity, enhance competitiveness and economic growth.” However, what is Europe as a whole experiencing today? It is experiencing exactly what “the captives of outdated approaches” had predicted.
They also characterised us as ideologically obsessed and stuck in the past back in 2009 when we had pointed out, together with the other Communist, left and progressive parties in Europe that “at the same time when billions from public funds are being allocated to rescue those responsible for the crisis, the workers, small farmers, the middle strata and all those who live by their work are suffocating under the weight of the monopolies and will experience even more exploitation, more unemployment, lower wages and pensions, increasing insecurity, hunger and poverty as a result of or on the pretext of tackling the crisis by the governments and businesses.” Today, when we are facing these phenomena in Cyprus as well, who can refute this?”
