Interview with AKEL Political Bureau member and Parliamentary Leader Giorgos Loukaides:

 

A vote for AKEL means strengthening the force of assertion

Sunday 26 May 2024, “Haravgi” newspaper

QUESTION: We are just 14 days before the 9 June elections. Do you have any indications of what results AKEL will achieve in both the European Parliamentary and local government elections?

GL: Both opinion polls and our contacts with the people generate optimism for a positive result in both elections.

We believe that in the European elections we will achieve our goal of re-electing two AKEL MEP’s and increasing our electoral percentages compared to the last parliamentary elections.

Likewise, we are equally optimistic about the local government elections and we have every reason to hope that a very large proportion of the candidates we support will win the confidence of the majority of citizens, even in cases where the party balance of forces is negative for them. The long tradition that we have built up in our work in local government and the qualitative characteristics of the people who adorn the electoral lists of AKEL-Left-Social Alliance in these elections as well, generate particular optimism for a positive result.

QUESTION: What is at stake in the European elections?

GL: A lot, concerning the whole range of policies being promoted in Cyprus and Europe.

• A vote for AKEL means strengthening the political force that fights for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Ukraine, an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the search for a political diplomatic solution in line with international law. It means strengthening the only force that opposes the militarisation of the EU and its deeper dependence on NATO. The only force that denounces the hypocrisy and the double standards policies followed in Europe and Cyprus by almost all the other political forces.
• A vote for AKEL-Left-Social Alliance means strengthening the force of assertion in Cyprus and Europe that consistently fights for the Europe of the peoples and against the Europe of the monopolies, big capital and widening inequalities. We are struggling or an inclusive Europe and Cyprus, for social justice, equality and solidarity, where none of our fellow citizens will be left behind. For the protection and strengthening of labour rights. For equal access to high quality health care and education.
• A vote for AKEL-Left-Social Alliance means strengthening the force of assertion in Cyprus and Europe that fights steadfastly and consistently for the defence and strengthening of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, against the huge democratic deficits, especially at an EU level, against the absence of the necessary scrutiny and control and particularly against the growing threat of the far right, the strengthening of which is once again putting the continent and our country in front of new adventures.
• A vote for AKEL-Left-Social Alliance means strengthening what is essentially the only political force in our country that opposes a government that has managed, more than any other, to disappoint so many people in such a short space of time.

It means strengthening that political force which puts forward creative and realistic proposals to overcome the deadlock on the Cyprus problem, on housing, on labour issues, on tackling the wave of price increases/expensiveness, on protecting and supporting citizens against the impunity of the banks, as was the case with AKEL’s recent proposal to tax their windfall profits. Proposals to protect nature and the environment, to protect and strengthen the institutions that are in prolonged crisis, on the migration issue, to protect and strengthen, health, education and, in general, all the challenges our country faces.

Challenges which, as a rule, are growing, since the current government is faithfully pursuing the policies of the previous DISY-Anastasiades government.

QUESTION: What difference will it make to local societies if AKEL or AKEL-backed candidates win the elections?

GL: It is true that when you refer to local government and elected officials, the differences between them can be indistinguishable when we limit ourselves to comparing personality traits. We must therefore focus on the political-ideological content carried by the candidates and the parties supporting them in order to identify the differences. In this context, the main difference emerges on three levels.

First, in the fact that AKEL and the people it supports have strong guarantees that they will put the public interest above powerful private interests and, in particular, any interests that clash with the public interest. They have, in other words, the guarantee that they will put people and the environment before profits when they promote growth, attract investment and healthy entrepreneurship.

Secondly, the selection of the people supported by AKEL is based on their heightened social sensitivity, so that, particularly in the context of the reformed, empowered local government, progressive policies of social inclusion for vulnerable groups can be promoted.

A third, crucial characteristic for their selection is their proven integrity, as well as their deep commitment to democratic processes, a collective approach, transparency and accountability.

To these we should add one more key element. Namely, that all those elected with AKEL’s support will be able to make draw on the vast experience and tradition that AKEL has in local government, as well as its strong policy-making mechanisms.

QUESTION: Where do you think the rise of the far right in Europe and Cyprus, to which you referred to, is due to and how do you think this phenomenon should be combatted?

GL: It is due to many factors, but they have a common denominator. Namely, the deep crisis of the capitalist system and the deadlocks it has generated, which the far right exploits by promoting and cultivating fear. Unfortunately, its proposal, which is hatred of everything different, is gaining acceptance in society. At the same time, the normalisation of the far right, its transformation into an “institutional interlocutor” and the Right’s collaboration with it, even within the context of its participation in governmental formations, is playing a decisive role in its growth.

The response to the rise of the far right must therefore focus on the main causes that have enable it to rear its head again.

First, the radical change of policies that lead to the marginalisation of a large section of the population and, in general, as a result of the imperialist policies that produce unprecedented inequalities.

Secondly, instead of the normalisation and instrumentalisation of the far right pursued by the bourgeois parties and big capital, every effort must be made to politically isolate the ultra-right and denounce it for what it is – a hideous ideology that constitutes the worst thing the human mind has ever conceived.

We will not tire of repeating that the far right and fascism are not just another point of view in democracy, but a voice against democracy and human rights.

Just as we must constantly remind ourselves that the “achievements” of the far right have led to the worst crimes ever committed in the history of mankind and the greatest crime in the contemporary history of our own country.