AKEL ON THE DAY AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS “AKEL STEADFAST AND POWERFUL FOR CYPRUS”

 

 

27th February 2013, “HARAVGHI” newspaper

 

AKEL stood firm with its head held high in defiance of all those forces and circles who believed that they could make us yield and give in, stressed Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL. Addressing a mass meeting of party cadres and militants of the AKEL Nicosia-Kyrenia District Organisation which filled the conference hall of the Pancyprian Federation of Labour PEO, Andros Kyprianou underlined in the presence of Stavros Malas that the Presidential elections proved that AKEL is powerful and ready to wage new struggles against policies directed against the people. “No matter how much they fight us, we shall answer them with the strength and dynamism of a member of AKEL. With faith in our principles and positions we shall united wage the battle and shall be victorious in this battle for the benefit of our people”, the GS of AKEL noted.

 

A. Kyprianou also stated that AKEL is distinguished by its ethos and credibility and pointed out that it won’t be long before the people will understand the ethos and credibility of each and every force. “The Cypriot people will very soon realise that all that it was being promised before the election was simply empty slogans so that they could manage to steal its vote”, he said characteristically.

 

AKEL stood firm despite the adverse conditions

 

The General Secretary of AKEL Andros Kyprianou highlighted the dedication and devotion of the hardened cadres of AKEL who waged the struggle under unprecedented pressure and in adverse conditions, so that AKEL did not have the fate of other parties in government in the midst of the capitalist crisis, parties that lost more than half of their strength. He sighted as a characteristic example the PASOK party in Greece which lost 8%.

 

At the same time he also replied to all those arguing that Nicos Anastasiades was elected by the biggest percentage vote after the late President Makarios. “They are right, but they must decide whether they are referring to real numbers or to percentages. Demetris Christofias in 2008 got 240,000 votes, corresponding to 53.36%. Today the 57% Anastasiades received mounts to 234,000 votes, despite the fact that there were 35,000 more voters”.

 

Analyzing in detail the adverse conditions created by the economic crisis and unemployment, as well as by the deadly blast at the Mari naval base, which was a tragic accident and not a deliberate act by the Government but was due to incompetency of the state, A. Kyprianou stressed that AKEL is not responsible for them. He expressed his displeasure that the forces opposing the government and AKEL managed to some extent to promote this assertion even amongst some voters of AKEL. The GS of AKEL underlined that during this five year term of the Christofias government never has such a constant destructive criticism and unprecedented aphorism been made against any other President of the Republic.

 

Dialogue with EDEK party for cooperation

 

The General Secretary of AKEL also focused on the voters of the centre who voted for Stavros Malas in the second round and stressed that the Party’s objective in the coming period is to begin a new dialogue, especially with EDEK party “so that we will formulate a political framework to support cooperation on specific political issues”. The years ahead will be very difficult and it is imperative that there is the greatest possible understanding between the parties, he added. He reiterated that AKEL will exercise serious and responsible opposition guided by the interests of the country and people. Furthermore, he said that AKEL will back correct policies and develop rigorous and well-documented argumentation towards the anti-peoples policies of the new Government that will be launched against the working people.

 

Resistance to a “loose federation”

 

Referring to the critical times the country is going through, the General Secretary of AKEL underlined that the goal remains the solution of the Cyprus problem based on principles as soon as possible; a solution that will liberate and reunite the common homeland of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. “We will resist any attempts for solutions contrary to all that the National Council has formulated. We will never accept a loose federation which is tantamount to confederation”, he stated characteristically.

 

The Memorandum can´t be a pretext for anti-peoples policies

 

On the economy, the GS of AKEL underlined that AKEL will not accept that the Memorandum becoming the excuse for anti-peoples and anti-worker policies, privatisations and the writing off of deposits. “We insist that there are ways the public debt can be made sustainable. We unreservedly back the letter sent by the Governor of the Cyprus Central Bank to the European Union in which he asks for the final amount PIMCO refers to be kept out, but at this moment in time we should be granted this amount which addresses the basic needs of the economy for the next two-three years and subsequently we should see how events will evolve in order to ascertain whether the scenario that has been used corresponds to reality or not”, he added.

 

In relation to the issue of natural gas, Andros Kyprianou stressed that AKEL will insist on safeguarding the interests of the Cypriot people through the discovery that was made as a result of the tireless efforts of the Christofias government and added that the existence of a state public company is imperative so that it will not be handed over to private capital.

 

Opening up to society

 

The General Secretary of AKEL underlined that the people need a united and powerful AKEL and not an inward looking party; a party that will devote all its efforts to promote its policies and strengthen the party organisation at all levels. Andros Kyprianou made a special reference to the need of local party organisations to make an opening to the wider society so that AKEL will improve its contacts and communication with the people. The GS of AKEL stressed that the election result will be assessed through a review and evaluation that will be made by the collective bodies of the Party and announced that yesterday morning the Central Secretariat of AKEL took three decisions: 1) To make an assessment within one and half months of the presidential elections and define the Party’s stand towards the new Government through a dialogue with the Party rank and file grassroots, 2) To evaluate the work of the five year term in a spirit of self-criticism in order to draw conclusions and lessons, and 3) the Party has assigned to a special group the task of conducting a scientific study of the issues regarding the economy as they are evolving in order to elaborate specific proposals to address the crisis, without excluding any option.

 

The District Secretary of AKEL Nicosia-Kyrenia Matheos Matheou congratulated the local party election groups of the Nicosia district for their tireless work, underlining that AKEL with its banners raised high is present in the struggle, powerful, for our Cyprus.