Speech by the General Secretary of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou at the Central Committee plenary meeting to ratify the Party’s candidate lists for the upcoming May 2026 parliamentary elections

 

Sunday, 30 November 2025, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Today, we, the members of the Central Committee of our Party, are called upon to ratify the candidate lists of AKEL – Left – Social Alliance in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections of May 2026.

We are at the end of a two-month procedure, which gave Party members and friends the opportunity to discuss the upcoming elections and the key issues and problems facing the country, and to propose candidates for our ballots. It is well known that the entire procedure was transferred to the District Organizations’ Conferences, where our candidate lists were formed by secret ballot.

The result of this democratic procedure is what we are called upon to ratify at today’s Central Committee plenary meeting.

We are convinced that this democratic, collective process has produced ballots that are capable, combative, and ready for a lot of hard work.

These are candidate lists that express the three constituent parts of our electoral coalition: AKEL, the Left, and the Social Alliance, whose participation rate is around 20%. In this way, we are continuing the broad participation of the Social Alliance in our ballots in the previous local government elections. In those elections, 30% of those elected came from the Social Alliance.

Our ballots combine the knowledge of experience with the enthusiasm of the young generation. The average age of our ballots is 43 years. Seventy percent of our candidates—39 out of 56—are running for the first time. These figures signal that for AKEL, the elections are the starting point for a transition to a younger generation. In our Party, renewal is continuous and put into practice. Women’s participation stands at 38% (21 out of 56), which is a clear improvement on the previous elections, where the participation rate was 23%.

Our ballots consist of persons involved in political, social, and trade union activities, as well as individuals with specialized knowledge and experience in various fields of both economic and social activity.

All our candidates are ready to work hard and give their all. For our Cyprus, for our people. For working people, for the younger generation, for women and low-income pensioners, for the vulnerable groups of the population. And this, always putting forward the collective “we” that unites forces and makes them more effective in serving the interests of the many and the underprivileged.

With our candidates at the forefront and the thousands of volunteers from the Party, the mass Organizations of the Left, and friends of our Movement, we are ready to devote all our energy into the electoral battle, in which we have set ourselves the goal of strengthening our force in Parliament and among the people.

We are convinced that we will achieve this goal because:

• people appreciate and recognize the continuous and consistent efforts and work of AKEL and its allies — both inside and outside Parliament —for the benefit of society and the common people,
• people know that AKEL is the party of the common people and fights to support and help them.

And this is not just rhetoric; it is not just an empty slogan serving communication expediencies. It is reality!

This is proven and documented through AKEL’s daily political practice. Everyone knows that the criterion of truth is practice and action. That is how everyone is judged, not by any cheap announcements and empty statements. And AKEL’s actions, its work, and its contributions prove that we are indeed the Party of ordinary, everyday people. We defend society, while others consistently choose to defend the interests of the banks at the expense of society.

AKEL is the responsible and effective opposition to Christodoulides’ ineffective government. We are the opposition! The other political forces either participate in, support, or tolerate the policies and behaviour of a government that has managed — because it is indeed an achievement — to lose much of the support it had received in the elections in record time. This loss is an expression of the resounding disappointment of the high expectations created by the false image that was projected as a supposedly new, anti-establishment force taking revenge on the system.

The resounding disillusionment of expectations from the policies pursued and behavior of the Christodoulides government is proof that all that glitters is not gold.

That anything that appears to be anti-establishment or ‘new’ but without putting forth proposals does not offer real solutions but, usually, only illusions. And these, in turn, feed back into the dire situation in which the majority of our society lives.

The resounding failure to meet expectations is proof that without political positions and proposals that favor the many rather than the few and the privileged, problems continue to exist, intensify, and deepen. The solutions lie in a political stance and not in an apolitical approach.

AKEL is the Party of society. It is the Party that cares about society.

We are well aware of the problems that plague working people, the young generation, low-wage earners and low-income pensioners, and the vulnerable groups of the population.

We share the anxiety of citizens:

• about the high cost of living that empties their wallets,
• about low wages and low pensions that are not enough to cover even their elementary needs,
• about high electricity and fuel bills,
• about the exorbitant cost of buying or renting a home,
• about the high interest rates, the inability to repay loans, and the foreclosures.

We address citizens’ anxieties and the problems that plague them by action and elaborating and promoting proposals. By actions both inside and outside Parliament. By putting forth feasible and effective proposals.

• To address the high cost of energy, we propose a permanent reduction in VAT on electricity from 19% to 5% and the abolition of double taxation on fuel.
• We demand the withdrawal of the so-called “green” taxes, which will place an even greater burden on taxpayers.
• To boost the low incomes of working people, we propose extending the Automatic Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) to all private sector employees, substantially increasing the minimum wage, and extending the institution of collective agreements.
• To address the housing crisis, we insist on strengthening and expanding the state’s housing policy, which is inadequate.
• Regarding foreclosures, we are resubmitting to Parliament the Bill Proposal to restore the legal rights of consistent borrowers and tackle the arbitrariness of the banks.
• We are asserting the formulation of specific policies for the repayment of housing loans and the reduction of energy poverty through resources generated from the taxation of the super profits of the banks and renewable energy companies. In other words, we are demanding that Cyprus do what 24 EU member states have done.

Our proposals are numerous and specific. And our efforts to promote and implement them are specific, not general and vague, nor are they pre-election rhetoric. We have been working on these issues for a long time. Through our continuous efforts, we have managed to achieve results despite the fact that, when AKEL defends society, it comes up against an informal political alliance that favors powerful interests, the banks, oligopolies, and the establishment order. That is precisely why it is important for AKEL to be even stronger. And citizens will make it stronger with their vote in the upcoming elections.

AKEL’s substantive and effective intervention is not limited to what I have described above. It also extends to key issues that are unresolved and threaten the very future and prospects of our Cyprus. This is exactly what AKEL has always been doing. And it is precisely for this reason that it has proven to be the big responsible and patriotic force in our country.

AKEL plays a leading role through the initiation of specific initiatives and interventions in addressing major challenges in the energy sector, climate change, the water crisis, the promotion of a new sustainable developmental model, and the tackling of income inequalities and the combating of the marginalization of thousands of our compatriots.

Speaking of key issues that are crucial for the future of our country, I would like to mention two more:

The first has to do with the growth of the far right in our country.

In the difficult and contradictory landscape in which we live, the strengthening of the far right is one of the most dangerous developments in our country. The ultra-right ELAM party threatens democracy and poses a danger to fundamental human values. ELAM is the reserve force of those forces/circles who impose anti-social policies and serve powerful interests.

When AKEL warned about the rise of the far right, everyone else mocked us and said we were engaging in scaremongering. When we called om no one to cooperate with them, others invested in their vote for the Presidency of both the Republic and the House of Representatives. And if we add to this scenario the flirtations of the Christodoulides government with ELAM, then the dangers of the rise of the far right become even greater, since it now influences government decisions.

At a time when the parties, each for their own reasons, are sounding the alarm about the rise of the far right, the people are called upon to support and give more power to the most consistent party standing against it: AKEL.

The second key issue concerns the Cyprus problem. Those who know the history of the Cyprus problem and follow developments do not need to have special knowledge or experience to realise that developments are imminent. No one can know where these will lead to and whether a solution will ultimately be achieved, but what is certain is that there will be an intensification of assumption of initiatives on the part of the UN Secretary-General to break the deadlock and continue the negotiations from where they were interrupted in 2017 on the basis of the Guterres Framework and preserving the entire negotiating acquis.

At what point had the negotiations been interrupted? Just one mile away from the solution, as the UN Secretary-General himself states. So, let’s continue from that point so that we only have one mile to go until the final vindication, which will mean the termination of the Turkish occupation and the reunification of our homeland and people.

In view of these developments, it is extremely important that AKEL, as the most consistent and steadfast force for achieving a solution to the Cyprus problem on the agreed basis and framework, emerges stronger from the parliamentary elections.

An even stronger AKEL makes the hope for a solution stronger.

Comrades,

Today we present a candidate list that was built with the voice of the many and not with the appointments of the few.

A list with more young people, more women, with people from different groups and professions, who have different experiences, knowledge, and specializations.

People who are selfless, honest, and transparent, guided solely by the best interests of our country and society.

A list that truly dares to give a voice and power to those who do not have one.

Young people who struggle, women who assert, people with everyday experiences, with enthusiasm and ideas for the changes we need.

And this, finally, looks like the very future we want.

Those who believe that politics should serve the many, exist for the many, we invite you to join us. To unite your voice with ours.

Their strength with our strength.

Together, we can do more. For all of us. For our Cyprus!

We will succeed in doing so!