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Contribution of AKEL, Cyprus

INTERVENTION OF YIANNAKIS COLOKASIDES, MEMBER OF THE SECRETARIAT AND POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE C.C. OF AKEL, TO THE 13TH INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF COMMUNITS AND WORKERS’ PARTIES

Comrades,

Allow me to begin my intervention by thanking and congratulating the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) which has undertaken the task of hosting this very important forum of Communist and Workers Parties.

In addition, permit me to express our admiration and full support of the struggles of the Communist Party of Greece which in conditions of an all out attack by capitalism is at the front  of the Greek people and working people in the struggle against capitalism and imperialism.

Furthermore, we express our full agreement with the evaluations and conclusions of the draft joint declaration we have before us. The crisis is indeed a crisis of the exploitative capitalist system and is due to the nature of capitalism itself, which although fully socializing production, the ownership of the means of production and the result of the labour of billions of people remains under the ownership of a small minority of exploiters. We fully agree that the only real alternative solution for humanity is socialism which abolishes this great contradiction, liberating labour from the shackles of exploitation and creating the preconditions for progress and prosperity for all people. The crisis clearly shows that capitalism is synonymous with barbarity and that the future of human civilisation is identified only with socialism. The overthrow of capitalism and construction of socialism is a mature historic necessity.

Since we agree on these crucially important issues, given also that you have been handed a comprehensive resolution on the Cyprus problem, allow me to use the time at our disposal to share with you the experience of the Cypriot Left in these difficult times we are going through.


Comrades,

As you know in 2008 we achieved the election of comrade Demetris Christofias, former General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL to the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus. This is an achievement of historical importance which in our assessment, its significance goes beyond the borders of small Cyprus. We knew from the very beginning that the election of Demetris Christofias to the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus did not signal a course towards socialism.  In Cyprus, where a large part of its territory is occupied by the Turkish troops and two big British/NATO bases are on its territory, the perspectives for the socialist transformation of society are even more difficult.

With the election of Demetris Christofias to the Presidency, we aimed at a new effort to solve the Cyprus problem based on principles and on promoting progressive democratic reforms.

The effort is continuing on the Cyprus problem, even though due to the negative stand of the Turkish the prospects for a speedy solution of the problem are regretfully remote.

As regards the issues concerning internal governance, and despite the consequences of the global economic crisis, the Christofias government having the support of AKEL, has managed to solve many problems that were troubling Cyprus for years and promote progressive institutional changes. I shall indicatively refer to the safeguarding of the sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund, in an era when in other countries these Funds are collapsing, the solution of the water problem, the significant increase in pensions and public assistances at a time when in other countries pensions are being cut, the increase in the minimum wage at a time when in other countries wages are being reduced, the reform of Education and local-self-government and many others.

The consistency with which President Christofias, having the support of AKEL, is attempting to solve the Cyprus problem based on federation, the resistance to neo-liberal policies, the multidimensional foreign policy based on principles, the progressive reforms in various areas have touched on the interests of the political and economic establishment. This resulted in a continuous escalation of attacks by the opposition. The opposition is led by the party of the conservative neo-liberal right. Parties from the spectrum of the centre, who had supported the Christofias candidacy and participated initially in the government, began waging fierce criticism, although they were represented in the government and eventually they withdrew from it.

A deadly blast last July at a naval base, which unfortunately claimed the lives of 13 people, was the pretext for the escalation and culmination of the attacks on President Christofias and AKEL. We experienced an unprecedented atmosphere of bigotry, fanaticism, an outbreak of anti-AKEL feelings. An ad-hoc front against the Left was formed, involving heterogeneous forces. The party of the conservative right, which is seeking to seize power, all those forces  from nationalist positions who are reacting to a federal solution, the forces who believe that Christofias is not "bold" enough to accept a solution as the imperialist centres desire, all those hostile to the socio-economic policy of the Left, extreme-right wing up to and including neo-fascist organisations, the leadership of the Cypriot Church and a large section of the mass media come together in this informal front. All of these forces are trying to convince the people that the Left is incapable of governing and are calling for the resignation of President Christofias. The call for resignation has been assessed by us as an attempt to impose a political coup d'état. In Cyprus, according to the Constitution, the President is elected directly by the people for a five-year term and his staying in power does not depend on any majorities in the House of Representatives (Note: the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus).  

Both the President and our Party have resisted the waves of attacks we faced. We handled developments with wisdom and determination. We rejected the demand for resignation and mobilised the people. The mass mobilisations of the people conveyed the message that the President and AKEL are anything other than isolated. People from the Left participated in the mobilisations and expressions of support towards President Christofias, but also many people beyond the spectrum of the Left who are following in horror the dangers of destabilisation would bring at such a crucial time for Cyprus. Currently the situation has I would say somewhat subsided. The problems of the economy and the possibility that Cyprus has in its underwater wealth natural gas and oil reserves have come to the forefront. Of course we do not exclude that there will be a new outbreak of anti-communist hysteria which the Left will combat with the same wisdom and determination, based always on the popular forces and the working people.

Comrades,

The world economic crisis of capitalism could not but have affected Cyprus too. The fields of construction and tourist were the ones mainly affected. Unemployment for the first time since 1974 - the years of the Turkish invasion - has reached 8%. The Cyprus economy for various reasons, even today, with the climax of the crisis is in a relatively sound situation. Where there is a great problem is that it has brought to the surface a great deal of problems which previous governments for decades have created and ignored.

The crisis happened to coincide with the administration of the Left in Cyprus and this is a big misfortune for our Party, because it does not enable us to continue our social programme as we would have liked. However, the fact that the crisis coincided with the administration of the Left is also a blessing for the Cypriot people and the working people. Cyprus is one of the few exceptions where we have not witnessed mass mobilisations by the working people, as well as the fact that the phenomenon of the so-called indignants has not appeared. This is not accidental. It is due to the fact that with the existence of a government of the Left and of a powerful Left movement, there is resistance to the levelling implementation of policies against people's interests. Wages have not been reduced, nor have pensions been cut. Working people are not sacked in the wider public sector. The public organisations of general interest have not been privatised. The welfare state has not been ripped from its foundations. The retirement age has not been increased. The trade union movement is not perceived by the government as an enemy, but is respected. We try to take any measures and those affecting working people through dialogue and in understanding with the trade union movement. Our own Party is struggling so that the accumulated profits and wealth assume the burden that corresponds to them, that is to say the largest share. This philosophy is also shared by the government.

Comrades,

In all honesty, I do not claim that we have always managed to prevent measures that in their character are anti-popular and to defend the working people and the trade union movement to the degree we would have liked. The pressures exerted on us, particularly on the government, are enormous. It is the objectively very bad state of public finances. It is the demands of the European Union which is moving in exactly the opposite direction to our own. It is the pressures and blackmail exerted by the international loan sharks and money lenders that are seemingly termed as "markets". It is the fact that the bourgeois parties, including the social democratic party too, who have the majority in the Parliament, are fully in line with neo-liberal policies of the EU. With the greatest of ease they are promoting decisions to the detriment of the working people, whilst voting against bills submitted by the government to tax the rich and profits. At the same time, through populism and demagogy, they are passing laws which are deducting income from the government, in order to force it to adopt their own policies. Coupled with this, we must stress that the overwhelming majority of the mass media are covering every agitation by the opposition.

Last week at a meeting of the parties with the President of the Republic consensus was reached on a number of measures to tackle the economic crisis. This consensus was characterised by AKEL as a painful compromise; a compromise to avoid the accession of Cyprus to the support mechanism of the EU, because if this were to happen we would have similar phenomena as those in Greece. That is to say, we would be governed in reality by some Troika that will pass as a bulldozer over Cyprus.  

The struggle is continuing. As AKEL we shall submit before Parliament measures concerning the wealthy and accumulated profits. At the same time we shall continue to support the trade union movement of our country.

Comrades,

Many times the question is put whether it would have been be better in times of crisis if we were in opposition and have more flexibility of action. On the other hand, we see that exercising power, even through difficulties and limitations, we manage to defend basic achievements of workers and their living standards and reject the most extreme neo-liberal policies that come from the EU. In conditions of economic crisis, the Cypriot Left is waging its own class struggle, and it remains a force that embodies the aspirations and visions of people and workers.

In conclusion, I would like to express the unreserved solidarity of AKEL towards the fraternal Communist and Workers Parties in their own struggles for national sovereignty, democracy, and social progress, to their struggles against capitalism and imperialism, in their struggles for peace and socialism.

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