Speech of Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL, at a mass gathering of the Women’s Movement of POGO
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 21st February 2016, Nicosia
On behalf of the C.C. of AKEL permit me to convey a warm greeting to today’s gathering. It is a joy to be with you because progressive women are seeking to again be in the forefront of the struggle making the difference!
It’s true that in our country many have underestimated the women’s movement. Many have attempted to downplay its contribution to Cypriot women. Whenever they did so, the very history of the Pancyprian Federation of Women’s Organizations (POGO) refuted them because POGO is not just any women’s organization. It is an organization with a rich and glorious history. Its members, in difficult times, lit the flame of women’s struggle. They took their fate and the fate of the women of Cyprus into their own hands. They marched together with the People’s Movement of the Left achieving great victories for themselves, the working people and the people of Cyprus as a whole.
However, it’s not enough at every gathering of ours to simply recall the glorious past. We need to keep the path for the future open and widen it even more. The strong presence of the women’s movement and the powerful militant voice of women are now more imperative than ever before.
Today many more women could have been among us here today. But they are working, even if it is a Sunday. The Anastasiades-DISY government insists on obediently and dogmatically serving the interests of a handful of big businessman at the expense of SME’s and working people, mainly against women who are working for miserly wages; women who are struggling to make ends meet for their family and who at the same time are struggling to have a social life.
This is not the only blow women have suffered as a result of the class policy pursued by the Anastasiades-DISY government. Every day the Memoranda policies of austerity and impoverishment are increasingly tightening everyone’s belts, fatally for women. They have crippled the welfare state. Genuine social policy is absent. People are being humiliated when they have to prove they are just one step away from destitution and poverty in order to be eligible for state support. Single parents, 90% of whom are women, every day wake up stressing whether their benefits application has been approved. At the same time they are wondering how they can manage to raise their children on the little crumbs that the Government has decided are enough to bring up a family. The government and ruling forces are attacking public health, which also severely affects women. When public state hospitals are in decay, how can a policy, for example, on cancer be promoted and implemented? This is another of Mr. Anastasiades’ broken pledges. In addition, unemployment is also growing day by day, leading thousands of young people either to despair or to emigrate.
But there are also other broader issues to consider that affect women. Lately public life has been dealt a blow by incidents of sexism which went beyond the pale. It is no accident that those starring in these incidents were MP’s of the DISY party. Only from representatives of conservatism, reminiscent of other eras, could such behaviors be manifested. The sad thing is that instead of the Democratic Rally taking a ruthless stand against such behavior, DISY chose to sugar-coat them.
This is precisely where the hypocrisy of the Right on such matters is also revealed and exposed. They deliver lessons about modernization to AKEL on issues relating to gender equality; to a Party which was the first to give women a voice and a platform nine decades ago.
The Communist Party of Cyprus-AKEL not only highlights the women’s question since then, but aimed at ensuring women were brought to the forefront. The historical references to women in speeches made at labour centers at the beginning of the last century are characteristic. Our Party therefore gave a platform to women. Indeed it had a woman among its founding members, at a time when women’s political involvement was considered scandalous. All the above also are a reply to the criticism levelled against us on gender quota issues. Is it a gender issue or an issue related to policies and capabilities? For example when Sotiroula Charalambous was Minister of Labour and Social Insurance during the Christofias administration the policies being implemented were different to those pursued today by current corresponding Minister Zeta Emilianidou.
For AKEL the central issue is to bring women to the forefront and for them to struggle for their own liberation along with the liberation of the working people from exploitation. For AKEL working women should be at the forefront and not posing like dolls on the society section of magazines. For us the challenge is for women to fight for the interests of each working person; to stand out for their actions in the women’s movement; to stand out as one of the many who are struggling for a better tomorrow. It’s on the basis of these criteria that 11 women candidates adorn the lists of AKEL-Left-New Forces and not on the basis of the criterion of numbers, or as a mere decorative presence. As AKEL we want women to make a difference in the House of Representatives, but also in the struggle for reunification and peace. We want them to join their voices with our voice and dynamism for the solution of our national problem.
The Cyprus problem is an open wound on our country’s body. The occupation makes the prospect of a peaceful future increasingly more distant. Turkey’s military presence on the island is a permanent threat. Its constant efforts to impose its domination by all means over the Turkish Cypriot community, but also the mass and uncontrolled colonization of the occupied areas, threaten the identity and survival of every one on the land of our birth. So, how can this problem be solved? It can only be solved by reversing the partitionist status quo and through the solution of the Cyprus problem, by a solution that will be accepted by both communities, which will lead to a permanent and viable peace. It will be solved by a solution that will liberate and reunite the island on the basis of the agreed framework. This is, and must remain, the common objective of the struggle of progressive Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
For sure, things are not easy, neither on the domestic front of Cyprus, nor in the wider region. Our country is at the heart of antagonisms and rivalries and no one should have any illusions that nothing is going to affect us. This is why we should not be complacent, nor should we become accustomed day by day with the status quo.
Those who want or prefer the partition of our country are more and more openly trying to hide all that unites our people. Even worse, all those who prioritize their petty-party expediencies over the well-intentioned interests of the country are completely distorting everything to convince that they are right.
On the opposite side there are certain circles and forces who, probably for the same reasons, are trying to convince the people that tomorrow morning we will pretty much have a referendum for a solution.
The speech of President Anastasiades to parliament confirmed on most points the correctness of AKEL’s long-standing positions on the Cyprus problem; positions which we were still supporting even when everyone, including Mr. Anastasiades himself, was attacking us. We defied the political cost. We insisted on the correctness of these positions. Today developments themselves confirm our positions. Progress was achieved because the Christofias-Talat convergences were utilized. Of course, the path is not easy.
We have a long way to go and many difficulties to overcome. We therefore need everyone to rise to the occasion.
We, on our part, will not change our positions, nor to one or the other direction, just to satisfy certain circles and forces. We have our own analysis on the Cyprus problem; our own timeless policy and we shall stick to it with consistency.
It is true that Mr. Anastasiades and DISY Democratic Rally party initially followed the policy of those who today accuse AKEL of collusion with DISY; the policy that submitted the rejection of the Christofias-Talat joint statements and supported negotiations from scratch. What was the result of this policy? Precious time was lost, our side paid a heavy price at the negotiating table and ultimately the Turkish vessel “Barbaros” was wandering in the southern part of Cyprus undisturbed. The icing on the cake was the UN Secretary-General’s Report. It was the worst ever Report we received. Their policy was tested and it had failed. As soon as Mr. Anastasiades was persuaded to put forth and stand on the Christofias- Talat convergences progress was recorded in the negotiations. We must continue the effort with the same consistency and adherence to principles.
AKEL’s positions do not serve anyone’s petty considerations. We are working and will continue to work with all our strength for a new day to dawn in a reunited federal Cyprus which will be a beacon and an example for the whole world. It will be a modern model of harmonious coexistence of two communities of different ethnicity, language and religion who will co-manage their common state. It shall be a country that will have managed to throw out the armies and channeled all its power and resources to social investment and economic growth.
This will only be feasible if the President of the Republic brings before the people an agreed solution that will terminate the occupation and colonization; exclude any possible imperialist interventions and isolates the chauvinist and nationalist elements and that will restore the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus for a solution based on UN resolutions, the High-Level Agreements, International Law and the principles on which the Union is founded. The united state that will emerge will be a transformation of the Republic of Cyprus. It will have a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship.
We are asserting a solution that will demilitarize Cyprus and exclude any guarantee rights or rights of intervention our country’s internal affairs by foreign forces; a solution that will reunite the territory, the people, the institutions and the economy under a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as described in the UN texts. From the above, one can easily draw the conclusion that AKEL does not support the negotiation procedure without any terms. We are following, analyzing and will judge developments accordingly. We are not going to demolish everything because elections are ahead of us. This, historically, has been the bad habit of others. AKEL as a patriotic and responsible force puts the interests of our country and people above everything.
I am confident that many things will be heard during this election campaign as well. Attacks will grow on us and the climate will become heated. We will wage the election battle armed with arguments, telling the truth to the people, conveying our positions, exposing policies that want to drag our homeland decades back in time and we shall be fighting for the interests of the majority of the people.
In recent years we have come under an unprecedented ferocious attack.
The first lesson we have given to our political opponents is that however much they try to crush us they will not get rid of us easily.
The second is that they will never have us in their pockets because we were, are and will remain the vanguard people’s force that is opposing vested interests looting the country. We will combat nationalism and chauvinism; oppose the anti-social attacks of the government and ruling forces.
The third lesson that we gave them is that they we will never become like them. We will not sacrifice the future for the election percentage. We will not put seek to take revenge over and above Cyprus. We will not yield allowing them to level everything because we are the force that paves the way forward for people, that opens up the perspective for our country.
We face a tough battle. Several Bills that will adversely affect the lives of all people were approved with by just one vote difference by Parliament. In these conditions, the vote of each and every one has a double value. Everyone has a choice to make, whether he/she abstains, silently approving the policies that will dismantle everything or he/she will participate by rewarding these policies with their vote. Or the people can make a difference by supporting the only serious and powerful force of resistance: AKEL-Left-New Forces!
It’s up to each and every one of us!
To put AKEL there it deserves to be!
Let’s pave the way for Cyprus!
To show the way forward!
