History is ahead of us and we shall be victorious
Article by Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL
18TH June 2017, “Haravgi” newspaper
As these lines are being written, the bills for the implementation of the National Health Scheme have already been approved by the House of Representatives The Bills were passed unanimously, and this development, I note with due modesty, is to a large extent due to AKEL too. The biggest opposition party has once again acted constructively and productively because, for us, society is at the centre of our political action and the country over and above any petty-party considerations.
Some thought indicatively “was there a case when DISY behaved in such a way during the Christofias government?” Unfortunately there was no such case. This is what history itself has shown.
This qualitative difference characterizing AKEL is leading many people, people beyond AKEL’s political-ideological spectrum, to await in anticipation AKEL’s decision on the presidential election because they are tired of presidential broken pledges and empty slogans; because many people have witnessed firsthand the anti-social policies of the Anastasiades-DISY government; because they are outraged by the support DIKO President Nikolas Papadopoulos offers to these policies and tired of hearing pompous declarations; because they expect a lot from AKEL, the Party that has consistently served the goal of reunification, and has managed to make its policy the benchmark in the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem; because it considers AKEL the Party that can so far mobilize the two communities and unite them on the path of rapprochement, to find the strength to tackle corruption, to dismantle intertwining interests, to set modern political goals and submit proposals that have what is modern at their core, whether it concerns health, education, youth, social policy or culture.
Currently all eyes are focused on AKEL, because it does what should be self-evident, namely it does what should normally be expected of every Party that wants to be called democratic: that is to say, it conducts a discussion on the basis of a political framework, in its collective bodies, regarding what its political proposal will be and which person can best realize it for the benefit of the country and people. Furthermore, AKEL has proved to be a party that acts according to principles; a Party which has the strength, honesty and sincerity when it cannot agree politically agree to say it and then move on, with respect and transparency. If only others, who have concluded pre-election agreements in one night, could claim the same.
Already many circles and forces have started making predictions. I will not reply here to any scenario being promoted. I will just refer everyone to our Congress decisions, which clearly outline the political framework that we have collectively set out as the basis for any cooperation.
Others did not resist the temptation and indulged in wishful thinking: they talked about the end of AKEL’s era, about its decay and decline. There’s one reply I want give them: They should just take a look at the people of AKEL, see the daily action of the People’s Movement of the Left at a thousand levels, see the youth of the Left struggling for young people and then they will understand that, yes, we are a Party of more than 90 years old, but history is ahead of us and we shall be victorious.
