Address by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, at the presentation of the book on the History of the Communist Party of Cyprus (1923 – 1944)

 

16 June 2023, Journalists’ Centre, Nicosia

I have read the book by my friend Alexis Alekou and Spyros Sakellaropoulou word for word. The description is simple, as is the interpretation of events too, but this does not detract from the scientific content of the text. On the contrary, it makes it easy to read and accessible even to readers who do not know a lot about the history of the Communist Party of Cyprus CPC – AKEL and the historical period of 1923-1944 in general.

The book records and highlights the socio-economic situation, conditions and main events of a very dynamic, contradictory and harsh period for the overwhelming majority of the population. The people suffered under a double brutal oppression: on the one hand colonialism and on the other plutocracy and the established order.

It is in these conditions that the CPC emerged in the aftermath of the October Revolution in Russia and as a result of the emergence of trade union organisations that provided the first platform for organising working people to assert workers’ rights.

The authors document the key moments in the development and formation of the CPC’s organization and actions in conditions of semi-illegality and illegality in a society where superstition, prejudice and religious fervor prevailed. These facts portray a picture of the objective conditions, society’s prevailing perceptions and priorities back then so that decisions and actions in the essential time can be interpreted.

In Alexis’ and Spyros’ book, data from the archives of the Third International are cited. This adds to the existing literature on the subject. Much of the data is cross-referenced and mutually substantiated by data and findings from other writings on the same period, which reinforces the validity of the findings and concerns developed in the book.

Dear friends,

History as a science plays very important roles. I will focus on one of these roles, which I consider to be extremely important. That of self-knowledge, self-perception and self-consciousness. That is, knowing who you are.

History helps us to understand, or rather to understand “who we are”. And in this particular case, it helps us to understand what the DNA of AKEL is as it was established, as the CPC, and as it evolved into AKEL. The recording and analysis of the period in the second half of the 1930’s and the early 1940’s is, I believe, very important so that we can understand what AKEL’s political DNA is, what the political character and identity of the Party is.

It was precisely during this period that the CPC leadership began to form the view that in order for the Party to play a role in the country and society and to influence developments, it had to move out from its underground status, conspiratorial work of small Party cells to engage in open work among the masses of working people. It had to come forward in the assertion of demands – labour, social, political, national – so that it could inspire the masses, so that the most conscious and ready to join the Party popular strata could trust it, so that they could join its ranks.

The CPC began to work with working people through the trade union movement. At the same time it began to elaborate its positions and assertions to assert broader demands of society by grasping its pulse and priorities. It put the moods, concerns and aspirations of Cypriots in the perspective of formulating and articulating its positions.

It was around 1937 that, according to the book, the need for the creation of a “People’s Party” was formulated, a development for which three main reasons contributed: the Comintern’s position on the need to forge People’s Fronts in the colonies as well, the momentum in the development of the Party’s trade union intervention and the need to get out of its illegal status.

In June 1937 the Party’s decision stated the following: “The Communist Party…is obliged to rally around it not only all the able and strong elements of the working class and working strata, but even all those elements of the petty bourgeoisie and bourgeoisie who consciously want to fight either for the expulsion of England or even for the acquisition of important constitutional freedoms. The doors of the Party will be open to all honest, conscious, loyal and disciplined anti-imperialist elements” (p. 140).

That is to say, the emphasis is now being placed on opening up the Party to society, on the mass development of its relationship with the working people on the basis of a specific political agenda that starts with the labour and day-to-day problems and reaches out to the crucial political questions of the day.

With the foundation of AKEL in 1941, the promotion of the concept of a broad party of the Left, a People’s Party of the working people, gained greater momentum. AKEL, together with the class-based trade union movement of PEO, was at the forefront of the great strike struggles of the 1940’s, gaining enormous respect among the workers. They were at the forefront of the national struggles for the right to self-determination, which was then interpreted as an assertion for Enosis, namely union with Greece. On the basis of this perception, AKEL proceeded to forge cooperation with political personalities of the right, forming electoral and social alliances such as the EAS (National Liberation Coalition) in Nicosia and the ELES (Limassol Union of National Cooperation) in Limassol, which yielded great victories for the Party in local government elections in the 1940’s.

Without much theoretical analysis and with a large dose of political pragmatism, AKEL subsequently formulated the open character of the Party towards society. The success of the project proved that the Party’s ideology, Marxism-Leninism, not only does not constitute an obstacle to a working class party that is open to society, but on the contrary it imposes the need for it.

After all, Marxism is not just a worldview and outlook, it is an ideology of the masses which guides the Party’s political actions with the dialectical method as its main tool. Our ideology gains strength the more its bearer, i.e. the Party, manages to develop its relations with the workers and society on a mass level. When it manages to mobilise the masses and play a role for the benefit of society and the country from the point of view and interests of the working people.

This means that the Party cannot be content and limited to engaging in analyses and interpretations which it unquestionably must do. It cannot exhaust its intervention only in engaging in theoretical discussions, but must come forward with proposals and actions to improve the living and working conditions of the people without of course abandoning its vision of a qualitatively alternative society, namely socialism. The Party acts for today’s assertions by opening up prospects for tomorrow.

If we look back in the history of AKEL we will see that this is exactly what the Party has been doing since its foundation and that is precisely why it has won the broad confidence of the working people and masses. It is for this reason that it has grown, become a mass movement and gained such prestige that everyone counts on it. This is how AKEL has developed into a pivotal force of progress and prosperity for working people, society and the country.

Dear friends,

We are at a time when the specific identity and character of AKEL, which has been shaped through its historical path of struggle, is as useful and necessary as ever. The recent presidential elections have reaffirmed that in recent years in our country the conflict between progress and regression, between the progressive outlook and conservatism has become more acute. This is a clash that is taking place on the ground of the confrontation between policies for the many and the policies that seek to serve the interests of the privileged few.

AKEL, with its choice of presidential candidate and the programme it had proposed, has tried to cover the progressive spectrum in society on the basis of a progressive agenda. What it did was not something unprecedented; it emanates from its historical heritage. That is the concept and policy we shall continue to follow. With the same openness and outward looking approach that AKEL has been pursuing to date without ever losing its orientation and vision.

AKEL will of course do so, by making the necessary changes so that it can become more effective in its procedures and actions, to make it more accessible to that progressive section of society that aspires and pins its hopes on AKEL for a better future.

AKEL will do so on the basis of the historical experience of the Party, as recorded in the book by our friends Alexis and Spyros, by continuing the struggle with our eyes focused on tomorrow.

Dear Alexis and Spyros, we wish all the very best for the book.