Interview with AKEL Political Bureau member Giorgos Loukaides

 

The DISY-Anastasiades government leaves a legacy of corruption and crumbling institutionsMavroyiannis will secure the ticket for the second round for progressive change

Sunday October 2022, “Haravgi” newspaper

QUESTION: One of the consequences of the stagnation on the Cyprus problem is the Turkish side’s new actions in the [UN-administrated] buffer zone, such as the harassment in the Deneia area and the issue of the Cetinkaya stadium. Do these justify the looming rupture with the UN?

GL: These negative ramifications are in addition to a number of other, much more serious ones, I would point out. Famagusta is being lost. Turkey is roaming around unhindered in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Republic of Cyprus. The occupied territories are increasingly developing into Turkey. Turkey is very effortlessly instrumentalising the migration issue and, above all, we are increasingly approaching the point of no return, namely the permanent partition of Cyprus. The main responsibility for all this, as we have stressed many times, lies with Turkey. It is also true, however, that the handlings made by Anastasiades-DISY have to a great extent facilitated Ankara’s adventurist plans.

It is obvious that Turkey’s new unacceptable actions in Deneia and the Cetinkaya stadium should not lead to a conflict with the UN and the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus. Similarly, we should never be led into a confrontation with the UN by insisting on erecting and installing barbed wire in the buffer zone. In any case, it is the job and duty of the Greek Cypriot side to act proactively and in a convincing manner towards the UN and its representatives, not in a confrontational manner.

In a broader context, it is imperative to restore the credibility of the Greek Cypriot side, which we do not expect to happen in the three remaining months of the outgoing government of Nicos Anastasiades. We can achieve this with the election of Andreas Mavroyiannis in the forthcoming presidential elections.

QUESTION: The campaign period for the upcoming presidential elections has assumed different characteristics from all previous ones. Do you think that the candidate whom AKEL supports will be able to make it to the second round?

GL: I would say that every election has its own particular characteristics. The special characteristic of this election concerns the unprecedented political paradox of opposition parties backing a candidate [Nikos Christodoulides] who represents and expresses the outgoing government which in fact, up to this very moment, he is defending by every means and of which he declares himself to be the successor. And it is no coincidence that he is the chosen candidate of Nicos Anastasiades.

At the same time, we have 70% of our fellow citizens assessing the outgoing government from negative to very negative. It is these people that the candidacy of Andreas Mavroyiannis addresses, which obviously far exceeds the percentages received by AKEL in the last parliamentary elections. A large number of personalities from other political spectrums and non-affiliated citizens are already aligning themselves with the objective of securing progressive change.

We are therefore confident that Andreas Mavroyiannis will effectively express a sizable section of the voters who are disappointed with this government and will receive the percentage that will secure him a ticket to the second round. The start, only at the beginning of October, of the substantive phase of these elections, with the public debate now developing around the core issues of the elections and its steady upward trend, gives us optimism and confidence that Andreas Mavroyiannis will indeed be in the second round.

QUESTION: The Finance Minister said that the 2023 budget has set recovery as its principal objective, with increased developmental spending of 12%. How do you comment on this?

GL: Increased spending does not negate the essence in terms of the state budget and the government’s economic policy in general which refuses to listen to the real needs of society. Namely, those of households and businesses that are suffering under the tsunami of austerity that has hit us, the vulnerable groups of the population. Working people and pensioners, the youth who are condemned to live in worse conditions than the previous generation.

Nor does the increased spending offset the significant unforeseen surpluses of more than a billion euros, which the state coffers have accumulated as a result of the big increases in essential consumer goods. Surpluses that should primarily be used to provide relief to households and businesses, which is not being done, with the result that our country is lagging far behind in Europe in the provision of state support to society so it can confront the expensiveness and the high cost of living.

However, speaking of budget surpluses, it is true that this government will leave a lot as a legacy at the end of its term of office. Namely, surpluses of social illiteracy and deadlocks. Surpluses of corruption and interwoven interests/entanglement. Surpluses of institutional racism, surpluses of authoritarianism, of the undermining of institutions and the rule of law.

The goal of a fairer, sustainable developmental model that supports society and not the privileged few, can also be realised through the achievement of progressive change in the governance of the country with Andreas Mavroyiannis.