AKEL on the 85 years since the Assembly held at Skarinou that led to the foundation of AKEL

 

For a strong Left so that society regains its dignity

14 April 2026, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

On this day, 14 April 1941, the Progressive Party of the Working People, AKEL, was founded. The decision to establish AKEL taken at an Assembly in the village of Skarinou, held on the initiative of the illegal Communist Party of Cyprus and in collaboration with progressive figures of that period, was a response to the need for a legal and mass party of the working people and the Left in Cyprus.

Taking the baton from the Communist Party of Cyprus, AKEL grew spectacularly in membership from its earliest years and established itself as a leading force against British colonialism and as a pioneering force in class and social struggles, winning the trust of the people.

Over the years, AKEL has established itself as the major political force that consistently, steadfastly, and resolutely defends our homeland, democracy, and the Cypriot people as a whole. There is no achievement of our people in the political, social, and economic spheres, or in the arena of culture, that does not bear the indelible stamp of AKEL and the broader People’s Movement (Note: the mass organisations of the Left).

AKEL has been and remains the leading force in defending working people’s rights, in defending and expanding our people’s gains, for an economic development that creates prosperity for all, for a modern welfare state that supports the vulnerable, and for the social goods of health and education.

AKEL is a patriotic party, a party of principle and proposals, with its consistency, steadfastness, and militant spirit, AKEL has earned the title of the force of reunification, rapprochement, for the solution of the Cyprus problem, and peace, while at the same time, it is the force fighting for a Cyprus that should be a bridge of peace in the region and not an aggressive launching pad for wars.

At the same time, AKEL has embraced and expresses the entire progressive spectrum of the country as the voice that is struggling for the modernization of the state and society, for democratic freedoms, the rule of law, and human rights, and which opposes racism, nationalism, and intolerance.

Eighty-five years after its foundation and as the Communist Party of Cyprus-AKEL marks its 100th anniversary, AKEL continues, bold and pioneering, to assert and fight for the contemporary needs of the young generation, workers, and the people.

This year’s double anniversary coincides with the upcoming battle of the May parliamentary elections, a critical battle for the future of our country. AKEL calls on the entire Left, every progressive Cypriot citizen, to ensure through their participation and vote on May 24 that our country will continue to have a decisive and powerful force defending society and the homeland: a strong and pioneering AKEL, a force of resistance against big business interests and the establishment. A force of struggle so that society may regain its dignity!