People’s lives refute the government’s fairytale “success story”
Statements by the General of the C.C. of AKEL A. Kyprianou
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 21st January 2018, Nicosia
There are many important things at stake in this election. First and foremost for Cyprus and the Cypriot people, the most important issue is that we manage to solve the Cyprus problem so that our country is liberated and reunified, to create peace, security and stability, so that we can have growth in the economy, which will help towards overcoming the many problems that have been caused to the Cypriot economy.
These elections are also important because who the next President of the Republic of Cyprus will be will also determine what the social sensitivity with which the problems of the poor, of the people in need of state assistance and the problems of people with disabilities will be tackled.
It is therefore of utmost importance that the next President should want to solve the Cyprus problem, to be consistent to this effort, to know how to solve it and at the same time to have social sensitivities. Furthermore, the next President of the Republic should be ready to take on the phenomena of interwoven interests and corruption that are spreading for some decades, but with much greater intensity in recent years in Cyprus. He should also be ready to proceed with the implementation of progressive reforms.
We stress that this person is Stavros Malas, an honest, ethical and capable person, a person who does not want to divide society, but instead wants to unite it.
I will repeat our appeal. People want to hear arguments and then decide. Let’s give them that opportunity. Let’s not waste time engaging in barren and sterile confrontations in an attempt to undermine our opponents, but let’s promote, highlight our own positions and proposals.
On the visit to the People’s Market in Anthoupolis
People choose to come to these popular markets because they can find cheaper products. I can’t compare prices, I think they are affordable prices where people can buy essential products. But what I have found is that a large section of the people don’t have even 20 euros to buy some basic goods to take home. That says a lot about the state of the real economy and how erroneous the government’s fairytale is that we have supposedly overcome financial difficulties and that we are supposedly all roughly living well. Some people do live well, some have seen their incomes grow in recent years, and many people have seen their incomes fall. Unfortunately, 240,000 compatriots live on the threshold or below the poverty line, and that says a great deal.
Besides this, let me say there are problems. The head of the local Community has informed me that an effort is underway to build a shelter for the market, which I consider very important. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to convince the relevant departments of this need.
