Statements by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou to ASTRA radio station, 2 March 2022

 

SS: Unfortunately there has been a lot of absurdity these days and, as always, the heavy price will be paid by the peoples. This shows that wars, tension and the attempt to achieve military superiority are not the solution that will safeguard peace in the world. Unfortunately, this is what is prevailing in the world, with the result that world peace is paying the price, and the dangers are now much greater than ever because we are now dealing with powers that possess nuclear weapons too.

Of course our attention must therefore now be focused on the effort to put an end to the invasion, for the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine, to find political and diplomatic solutions and at the same time, of course, the issue of the architecture of security and peace in the world will be raised again with greater intensity, which, I repeat, cannot be based on the law of the mighty, on armaments and on the attempt to achieve military supremacy and forge military alliances.

ASTRA – The question is whether those who hold the reins understand that and do what you have said, which I wish it would be so, but it doesn’t look good…

SS: They don’t realise it. It’s obvious from the way they’re reacting to the war in Ukraine. You can’t deal with these kinds of issues with paroxysms, with exaggerations and with one-sided and unilateral approaches. What we need is for logic to prevail, not any irrational approaches.

In the nuclear age the objective is for the will of the mighty to be imposed through wars, invasions and conflicts, disregarding the will of the peoples and violating international law. This isn’t happening only today because certain forces and circles people believe that’s so. This is not an excuse for any Russia, for any America and for any European Union, but the whole situation shows that by doing so great dangers for the whole world are being perpetuated, leading to the bloodshed of the peoples and destruction of entire states.

ASTRA – The first meeting was held yesterday with the President of the Democratic Party DIKO, Nicolas Papadopoulos. Are the results encouraging or is it just a first exploratory contact in relation to the presidential elections?

SS: According to the decision approved by the Central Committee of the Party on the political framework, AKEL seeks to forge cooperation with the aim of ending the DISY government in order to have a President with a progressive programme and a progressive government that will address the huge deadlocks caused by the DISY government so that a new perspective can be paved to bring hope to the people.

It was a first meeting as you have said. I’ll just say that since both parties have the same understanding that numerous deadlocks have been created by the DISY government and that we need to work to find consensus and convergences leading to a cooperation that will pave the way for change, then, yes, I think there is solid ground on which we can build on.

I want to say that through these meetings it will become clear whether there will be that prospect of cooperation. In any case, AKEL intends to have these meetings, which will not only take place with DIKO, but with other opposition parties too and especially with all those people and forces who share our perception that this situation can’t go on and that we have to change it.

I repeat, dialogue and discussion is all very good. But we are not going to engage in endless discussions. It will become apparent at some point soon if and whether specific preconditions exist for cooperation so that we have the necessary time to take our decisions.

ASTRA – However, a number of people understand that the positive thing from yesterday’s meeting was what you just described. It’s most likely not going anywhere because of the issue of the names (surrounding the issue of the name of the presidential candidate). I understand you didn’t talk about any names, did you?

SS: No, we talked about the political/policy framework within which we would move. We exchanged some views that we will discuss in the very near future. We certainly put some criteria down in terms of our effort to find a personality that will lead that effort, but we didn’t get into any detailed discussion, since that will be done in the subsequent meetings.

ASTRA – No names were mentioned – even informally?

SS: No, we really didn’t get into that discussion. It wasn’t on the agenda of our meeting anyway. Besides, during yesterday’s meeting we also took some time to discuss the situation as it is evolving in Ukraine, which undoubtedly will have a huge impact on Cyprus and the Cyprus economy. This is something that we need to think about very carefully about because we need to see how we address these consequences, given that Cyprus has strong economic, trade and tourism relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Apart from the political and diplomatic aspects, which are very important, you understand that Cyprus does not play a major role, considering our size, so we must see how we deal with the difficulties that will admittedly arise at the level of the economy so that we can confront these problems to the extent possible and as effectively as possible.

ASTRA – People are asking: when will the procedures be completed in AKEL? When will you have a decision on the presidential election?

SS: We had set a timetable so that in the spring we’ll proceed with the procedures that we have to do and that are provided for in the Party Statutes. Look, we are not doing these procedures for the sake of it, just to say that we are implementing the Statutes. The Statutes stipulate that the Party will always take its decisions collectively and democratically and after a thorough discussion.

For that reason, through the procedures that we are following, we are giving the opportunity, on the one hand, to discuss together with the party grass roots membership, with the New Forces, with the friends of the Party about the political framework, the approaches, the concerns and the issue of the presidential elections. Of course we will do the same thing when we have more concrete facts before us so that we can consult again with the party membership and collectively in order to take decisions as provided for in the Statute by convening an extraordinary Pancyprian Party Congress where the delegates to the Congress after discussion and secret ballot will take the final decisions.

ASTRA – And when will this procedure conclude?

SS: Before the end of spring we want to take our decisions. We can’t determine exactly what that timeframe is, bearing in mind that we are still having contacts with other parties, we have the discussion with the Democratic Party. It depends on how those consultations go.

I repeat, our intention is not to drag on these discussions. In our view through these discussions it may soon become apparent whether or not there is any prospect of moving forward. But either way, either with or without cooperation, we will go ahead and take our decisions.

ASTRA – There is also the Cyprus problem to consider…

SS: This is THE problem…

ASTRA – Yes, but unfortunately it’s no longer headline news..

SS: AKEL considers the Cyprus problem is of utmost importance for safeguarding the present and the future of our country – perhaps many people did not realise it, but AKEL always stresses this. Therefore, regardless of the pessimism that exists due to the prolonged deadlock since 2017 when the Crans Montana Conference on Cyprus collapsed – we have not stopped talking about the need to resume the negotiations from the point where they had been interrupted at Crans Montana, in order to complete the effort to reach a comprehensive solution that will reunite and liberate our country.

Yesterday we had a meeting with the Turkish Republican Party (CTP) in the occupied territories. We discussed this very thing. Namely, that in this existing climate of pessimism, stagnation and deadlock, the two mass parties in favor of the Cyprus solution will revive their joint efforts, which for a short while were temporarily put on hold because of the voting procedure in the occupied territories. AKEL will resume its activity on this front, together with the Turkish Republican Party, so that on the political level too, we can start to put pressure on the political leaderships and international community to take action towards reviving the negotiating procedure.

Secondly, the two parties will develop joint actions towards society in general not only to keep the flame of the solution of the Cyprus problem alive, but to once again create the hope and perspective among the people which to a large extent has unfortunately been lost.

ASTRA – What conclusion do you draw from the meeting with CTP?

SS: It was held in a very good atmosphere. I must say that there is convergence with CTP on all the major issues concerning the Cyprus problem. We fully agree that we have to make an effort to revive the negotiating procedure from the point where the talks had remained at Crans Montana. That we should preserve all the acquis and body of work that has been built up over many years of negotiations and that the prolonged deadlock is causing very serious damage. We can already see this on the ground, by how many new fait accompli Turkey has imposed, with the participation of the Turkish Cypriot leadership, which is in favour of a two-state solution.

The danger of the permanent partition of our country has never been greater and that is precisely why we have said that we will continue to intensify our efforts to bring back to the fore the need for the resumption of the negotiations, to end the deadlock and open up the prospect of reaching a solution.