The stakes of the elections for young people – Article by Andreas Solonos, member of the AKEL Nicosia-Kyreneia District Committee

 

 

Monday 7 November 2022, “Haravgi” newspaper

As we approach the presidential elections, Cypriot society’s interest quite naturally is growing.

At the same time, however, a large section of young people is not interested in the upcoming presidential elections, within the context of the intense depreciation directed at the political system that has been continuing for some years. The main reasons for this phenomenon, although complex, are the widespread disillusionment as a result of the very difficult socio-economic conditions experienced by young people and the prevalence of individualism and superficial perception that “all the political parties are all the same” and that “nothing can change”.

However, things aren’t quite like that. Not everyone is the same and the situation can change, even by taking small steps. This is where the real stakes of the presidential elections for young people lie, namely getting rid of the main causes of their current situation – the current government and its successors, both Averof Neophytou and Nikos Christodoulides.

For two terms and while conditions for our people would have been very difficult anyway, this government made sure that the many paid the bills in order to perpetuate or increase the profits of the privileged few.

What should we remember first?

The selling off of public wealth and property?

The prolonged deregulation of labour relations and the shrinking of the purchasing power of working people’s wages?

The mockery of the minimum wage framework, the lowest positions as recorded across the EU in relation to government spending on health and social benefits?

The denigration of AKEL’s proposals to confront poverty?

These aren’t mistakes, but deliberate policies that have been pursued. The end result today is that we are talking about a Cypriot society where the gap of inequalities between the many and the few has exceeded all precedents, leading to the mass impoverishment of the majority of our people.

And what do the two DISY candidates propose to address the current situation?

Averof Neophytou wants us to continue on the same path, to have a “strong” economy that works for the benefit of the privileged few, if we want to avoid risking the crumbs left for the many, while the social policy of the state is considered of secondary importance.

As far as Nikos Christodoulides is concerned, he wants to “unite forces”, bring the “new” far from any ideological substance. He says that he will provide support to young people to address their problems, such as low wages of 700 euros, something he has just discovered after 9 years of being the right hand of President Nikos Anastasiades.

Neither of them therefore wants to prioritise the defence of the many and to offer the greatest possible support to the people.

One can find this content only in the political positions and policies of the candidacy of Andreas Mavroyiannis. It is in these positions that the youth can also ascertain the effort to improve their own position in Cypriot society, so they can see better days in the near future.

Therefore, the stakes of the upcoming presidential elections for the youth are clearer than ever before: the realisation that things can indeed change for the better, that Andreas Mavroyiannis is their candidate in these elections and that this must be recorded in the elections.