“The Group of the Left is stronger with a new dynamic in the European Parliament” by Neoclis Sylikiotis, Member of the Political Bureau of AKEL and Vice-President of the Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left

 

 Article by Neoclis Sylikiotis, Member of the Political Bureau of AKEL and Vice-President of the Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left

20th June 2014

For AKEL, the European elections in May were not simply about the election of Members of the European Parliament. For us, the goal was and indeed remains the defeat and reversal of the anti-social policies of the EU and European Right which are threatening the future of our country and people. The objective socio-economic situation in the EU right now is that unemployment and part-time employment are rising uncontrollably, whilst one in four people according to official figures are in poverty. At the same time the profits of the large business groups and companies are growing sharply.

We believe that those who bear the main responsibility for the EU’s anti-social policies, for the clearly anti-democratic nature of its decisions and deficit in engaging of the peoples in democratic procedures had a big setback in these elections. The Right and Socialdemocratic parties, which held the power both at government levels, and at the level of the European Council, the European Commission and European Parliament, in particular the European People’s Party and the Liberals, had a big decrease in their strength. In contrast, the Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) grew both in absolute numbers and in percentage terms, given that from 35 MEP’s in the previous five years, today it has grown to 52 MEP’s, increasing its percentages by 50%. It has become clear that people can exert pressure through their active participation for a change of course from the austerity, the dismantling of the welfare state and the selling off of public wealth.

A proposal was made to AKEL and we assumed the Vice-Presidency of the GUE/NGL Group. Following the increase in its members, the Group created a new Bureau structure with new dynamics that will safeguard pluralism and collectivity in its decisions and activities. The Bureau will coordinate the representation, work and activities of the Group that will be decided by its Political Bureau. As AKEL, we look forward to this new dynamic and collective manner of work as a central aspect/element of the Group’s activity in the European Parliament. Our Group is the only political group with a confederal character, which we consider as the most important principle in its functioning and we certainly want to safeguard it. The reason is that the confederation of the parties in the GUE/NGL emanates from the respect towards the peculiarity and special features of each Party participating in this Group.

It is accepted that at least since the beginning of the economic crisis the neoliberal policies of the ruling circles of Brussels are incapable of recognizing or providing solutions to the specific problems that arise in each Member State, especially on issues relating to development, growth and social cohesion. They resort to blackmail methods that are impoverishing the peoples of Europe. Of course there are also not without their allies and cronies, as the Anastasiades-Democratic Rally DISY government in Cyprus clearly demonstrates. Poverty and destitution is driving many people to support populist, extreme right-wing and openly racist parties. One of the main objectives both of AKEL, and our Group is to stem the onslaught of the extreme right at all levels, both in the national parliaments and in the European Parliament.

The new dynamic created by the strengthening of our Group and the safeguarding of its unity and diversity through the collective presidency, gives us an impetus to fight against the EU of austerity, monopolies, poverty, unemployment and destitution. The struggle for the rights of the working people, the rights of the vulnerable groups of the population, for social cohesion and the fight against the extreme-right will be our daily duty during these five years. The increase in the strength of the parties of the Left in the European Parliament, together with the growth of the day-to-day struggles of the mass movements, show that another Europe is possible, the Europe of solidarity, peace, equality, the Europe of the peoples.