AKEL will continue both in and outside of Parliament to be on the people’s side

 

Statements by General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL S.Stefanou during his tour of the Limassol mountainous region

4 December 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Today we made a tour of the mountainous region of Limassol. This is a continuation of the other tours we have been doing in numerous regions of Cyprus with the aim of further strengthening our contacts and communication with the people, seeking to listen to their problems, which we are of course aware of to a large extent, but it is important to get the pulse of the people on how they live through and want the problems to be addressed.

We attach great importance as a Party to the efforts to help people during these difficult times so they can confront the ongoing price hikes and which unfortunately, are rising further, and at the same time to discuss issues that concern them such as the Reform of Local Government Reform.

What I want to assure people is that AKEL will continue to help people both inside and outside Parliament in a specific way and through the submission of concrete proposals. Yesterday, for example, in Parliament, as a result of the proposal submitted by AKEL, which was supported by other political parties, we managed – despite the opposition of the government and ruling DISY party – to pass a reduction in the Value Added Tax rate on the price of electricity. We have other specific proposals that we will try to get through Parliament.

It is a contradiction that the opposition, especially the principal opposition party, should present specific proposals – and I repeat specific proposals – to the government seeking in a targeted way for help to be provided to the people. We normally are confronted with reluctance, silence or even hear government excuses about the opposition’s proposals. Indeed we even face an arrogant attitude too.

What was said yesterday by the ruling DISY party is really unacceptable for a democratic country. When all the opposition parties passed the draft bill, the representative of ruling DISY party came out and declared: “you guys can vote for more or less what you want, we as a government will do what we believe”. This stand is unacceptable when the opposition extends a hand of cooperation to help people with the problems they face and for the government to subsequently declare that “you can decide what you want, but we will do what we want”. I do not know of any other democratic country where this happens.

However no matter what, AKEL will continue to be with the people, it will continue to help the people and its tours around the country. It will continue to put forth its proposals, both inside and outside parliament.

QUESTION: Do you think that the Pope’s visit also sent out messages to the world and international community on the Cyprus problem, of course, but also on the migration issue, which is a problem that is particularly plaguing our country?

SS: The Pope conveyed messages of a universal character that must be understood here in Cyprus first and foremost by the government ruling forces.

As the leader of a big church should do, as religious people do, they must first and above all convey messages of love, humanism and solidarity, especially to people who are exposed to dangers, suffering from disasters and ongoing wars. I am pleased to observe that the Pope constantly and through his statements and actions – not only here in Cyprus, but also wherever he may be – that these are precisely the messages he sends out because, yes, during these difficult times the whole world is going through, those who have the power and means must help the countries and peoples who are suffering in disasters or who are forced to become refugees or emigrate in order to escape from disasters and seek better living conditions.

I think that this message must first of all be understood by the government in Cyprus which, I have to say, is not on the same wavelength since on both the migration and refugees issue, but on other issues too, acts in a different direction.

As far as the Cyprus problem is concerned, I think the Pope’s statement was quite clear without being a politician and without naturally going into the details. Namely, that problems are resolved through dialogue.

Consequently what we have before us is what AKEL has been saying formally and pressingly since the very first day the collapse of the Crans Montana conference on Cyprus. That is to say, concrete initiatives must be taken by the government so that the deadlock is broken and the negotiations can be resumed from the point where they were interrupted at Crans-Montana, preserving the body of work in the negotiations that has been agreed over the years.

Indeed, as AKEL has always been a Party projecting positions and submitting proposals, I remind you that since last December we have given the President of the Republic a specific proposal on how the President can take initiatives to push things towards the resumption of the negotiations at a time when Turkey is being very provocative, violating international law and the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus so that a momentum is created for the resumption of negotiations.

Our proposal without violating the Greek Cypriot side’s “red lines” gives a practical content to the position of the Secretary General of the United Nations to make use of the natural gas issue as a catalyst to create momentum. We are continuously conveying our willingness to the President of the Republic to have a dialogue and assist in this regard. We face the government’s silence and reaction.