Government’s privatization policy serves capital and profit

 

Statement of Stefanos Stefanou, member of the Political Bureau

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 18th August 2015, Nicosia

 

In view of the on-going discussion surrounding the government bill in relation to the Semi-governmental organization of the Cyprus Telecommunication Authority (CYTA), as AKEL we reiterate that we are totally against the privatization of the Organization.

The government’s attempt to limit the issue of privatization to that of the employee’s rights and labour conditions is aims at misleading the people about the negative consequences that will stem from the selling off of CYTA and the other Semi-governmental organizations.

As AKEL, we support the legitimate demands of the workers in CYTA, but the essence is primarily about preserving the public character of the Organization.

CYTA and the Semi-governmental organizations in general, have offered a lot to Cyprus. The selling off the Anastasiades- DISY party government is planning will damage society and the economy of our country. The government is proceeding to privatizations despite the explicit electoral pledges the President had made that he will not privatize CYTA, the Cyprus Electricity Authority (EAC) and the Cyprus Ports Authority.

With the selling off of CYTA, the Organization’s profits will go into the pockets of big capital instead of being invested in society.

With the sellout of CYTA’s many of society’s and people’s needs will no longer be served, given that everything will have as the sole criterion the maximization of profit. International experience shows that privatizations have led to the deterioration in the quality of the services provided and to the increase in their cost for the citizen.

With the sellout of CYTA sensitive national security issues will pass into private hands with incalculable consequences.

The government’s ideological obsessed insistence to privatize CYTA serves big private interests and not the interests of Cyprus and its people.