Government-DISY consider people’s tragic reality a success story

 

Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL Press Spokesperson

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 23rd September 2015, Nicosia

 

President Anastasiades, in a speech delivered yesterday, tried to present the Cyprus’ subordination to the Memorandum as a model that should be followed by other countries and correspondingly the economy’s performance over the past two and a half years as a success story.

AKEL reiterates that Cyprus is anything but experiencing a new economic miracle, as the government and ruling forces persist in claiming. Developments are indeed progressing wonderfully, but only in the interests of a handful of large private interests, which the DISY Rally party government is serving consistently, with the assistance as a rule of the Democratic Party DIKO too. The picture however reflected through the figures and statistics, and more specifically the living reality experienced by the working people, households and small businesses, is precisely the opposite, given that after two and a half years the conditions for them have gone from bad to worse.

– Unless that is the third highest unemployment rates in Europe are considered a success, especially those figures regarding long-term unemployment,

– Unless the unprecedented for the world rates of non-performing loans are considered a success, which distressingly reflect the continuing deterioration of the economic situation of households and small-medium businesses,

– Unless the continued biggest by far reduction in wages in Europe is without a doubt a success story.

– Unless the crumbling public health system and the smallest by far welfare state in Europe is considered as a success.

– Unless our 250,000 compatriots who are below the poverty line and the 60,000 people who depend and are fed by social food banks are considered a success story too. Furthermore, our young people are migrating in their thousands and the lost generation will be forced to live in worse conditions than the previous one.

For the government and DISY party these tragic realities are considered a success story. For them, the Memorandum is a blessing and does not represent a collective punishment of our people.

We will reiterate to President Anastasiades and the leadership of DISY that they must cease being obedient to the Troika and to those who want to impose and perpetuate the Memoranda and austerity in Europe. Let’s at last try to be beneficial for our people, and contribute to the struggle for a Europe of solidarity.