AKEL will take action both within and outside Parliament
Interview with the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A.Kyprianou
Sunday 11th February 2018, “HARAVIGI” newspaper
———————————————————————————
AKEL’s collective bodies will convene to assess the election result. What is your initial evaluation?
AK: For sure the result does not satisfy us. We didn’t succeed in achieving our principal goal of winning the elections. I repeat, however, that the elections could have been won had the parties of the so-called “intermediate spectrum” remained consistent to the goal they themselves had set as a priority, namely the change in the administration of the country.
However besides that, we waged an election battle, with ethos, sincerity, seriousness and dignity. I think that this is primarily down to Stavros Mala and at the same time it is also due to AKEL too, which also acted in the same way. Thus, in this sense, both Stavros Malas and AKEL have come out of the elections as moral and political winners.
From the first night of the elections N. Anastasiades and DISY President A. Neophytou spoke of unity in an attack to promote the idea of cooperation with opposition parties. What can we expect AKEL’s opposition will be like, both inside and outside Parliament?
AK: I personally take my hat off to both Mr. Anastasiades and DISY President Mr. Neophytou, as they have a unique ability to put on different masks. They speak of unity at the same time as they undermine other political forces. I have to admit that they manage to portray themselves wearing a different mask depending on how their communication needs are served. I urge people not to focus on these communication games, but to distinguish the essence behind them.
Regarding the talk about a government of “broad social acceptance”, I will state that as AKEL we disagree radically with the policies promoted by DISY, on internal governance issues, while as far as the Cyprus problem is concerned, we have absolutely no confidence at all in Nicos Anastasiades as to how he will handle it. In this sense, we can’t discuss anything with DISY and Mr. Anastasiades.
As for the role AKEL will play, we are and will remain in opposition. We will be very strict in our role as the opposition, but at the same time objective. What guides us is how best we can serve the interests of our country and people. That’s the policies we will be supporting. That’s also how we will also act with regards the Cyprus problem. Rest assured that AKEL will react in a very determined and decisive way against all those actions that we consider serve party or personal considerations or a small group of the population, both inside, but also outside the House of Representatives. I say this because we are aiming to intensify mobilizations on issues that we consider very important for Cypriot society. We are at a very important milestone and I believe that the government must get the message that it cannot continue to act as it did during the last five years.
The President, with his re-election, said he would seek to meet the Turkish Cypriot leader to resume talks. How feasible is this by 2020, when Mr. Akinci’s mandate ends?
AK: I think it is extremely difficult for very simple reasons. UN Secretary-General Mr. Guterres in three instances clarified what he expects the two leaders to do for him to undertake on a new initiative. He told both of them to enter into a period of reflection. He told them, first and foremost, to co-decide what they actually wanted, to agree with each other that they wanted the same thing. Furthermore, that they should tell him how they intend to proceed with the procedure to be followed in order to achieve the common goal. And to convince him that they really have the political will to move forward on that basis. The terms set by the UN Secretary-General are very simple.
I recall that in the report he submitted after the talks in Crans Montana he said that a historic opportunity was missed because there no political will was demonstrated from the two leaders. He now wants to be convinced that there will be this political will. I consider this very difficult, given the stand that both Mr. Anastasiades, but also Mr. Akinci maintained all through this last period. And also about how they perceive the issues. I wish I could be proved wrong.
How do you see the economy developing according to what the President said during the pre-election campaign?
AK: Mr. Anastasiades’ election promises must not be taken into consideration at all. We have the experience of 2013. He promised one thing during the pre-election campaign, and did the opposite after the election. We cannot hope that the government’s philosophy will change with regards the issues relating to the economy, besides they don’t hide it any more. If they continue to act in the same way, nothing can change. However, we have the opportunity to take action in the House of Representatives and I think we have applied it to a great extent in the past as well. We changed or overturned many things. We can work with the parties of the so-called “intermediate political spectrum” in the House to reject policies that DISY will be promoting, provided that these parties also want to protect the interests of the majority of the people. We will try to work as closely as possible with the other parties in the House.
However, we also want to intensify the mobilizations of the people. We want the government to get the message that it can’t continue with these policies. And it can’t get these messages only from the Parliament, but mobilizations must also be organized and that is something that will concern us.
On the Cyprus problem. Is there room for an understanding with the other parties?
AK: The key lies in the long-standing decisions of the National Council. If they are respected by all the political parties, there could be a minimum of co-operation. I regret to note that some political parties no longer agree with the long-standing decisions of the National Council that speak of a Bi-communal, Bizonal Federation. They are certain political parties that insist on another solution. We can’t cooperate on this basis. To abandon the agreed framework and search for another, which the international community does not support, would be disastrous. The result will simply be to consolidate the fait accomplis and for partition from de facto to become de jure. AKEL will never agree to such a development.
The understanding with Stavros Mala was a very good during the election campaign, and both sides seem to be satisfied with this co-operation. What will be your relationship after the election, can we expect a new cooperation?
AK: On a human level, the personal relationship will continue to be very good, as it has been in recent years. On a political level, I will meet Stavros Mala, listen to his views, exchange thoughts and concerns, and it will depend on him how we will develop our relation in the future.
I want to make a special reference to Stavros Malas, saying that he has proved throughout the election campaign that he has rightly trusted by AKEL to be a candidate. He has behaved in a way that raises the bar very high and it is worth making a special mention about his political behavior throughout the election campaign.
In addition, I would like to address once again the thousands of volunteers who have worked during this election campaign, and who made sure that the message of Stavros Malas, but also the message of AKEL was conveyed to a great number of people. When I refer to volunteers, it is not only the militants and members of AKEL, who were the overwhelming majority of these volunteers. There were also non-aligned citizens, but also voters or members of other parties.
Another thing I also want to say is the excellent work done by the organizational mechanism of AKEL. The cadres from the Party organizational mechanism have surpassed themselves and have been able to fulfill to a great extent our pre-election tasks. This is a big gain and capital for us. Another big gain is the fact that we not only managed to rally all our voters who voted for AKEL in the 2016 parliamentary elections, but we managed to bring back people who for various reasons abstained from the last elections.
Of course voting is not enough, we have to find a way to keep them close to us, to our positions, to get them to participate in the evolution of things, so that an AKEL that is stronger can assert and militate rights for the working people of our homeland and for Cyprus itself.