Reply by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou to a journalist’s question on DISY President’s statements
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 14 May 2019, Nicosia
I want to express my deep regret at the level of dialogue which the Democratic Rally leader is trying to promote.
Society as a whole has been shocked by what has happened (the serial killer murders); shocked by the crimes, not with the crime because we are talking about at least seven murders having been committed. Our criticism centred on the fact that despite the fact that relevant accusations were made and developments themselves have proven that a great many accusations were made, they were not taken into account. Neglectfulness and criminal negligence has been demonstrated by a section of the police force. Institutional racism was expressed, which has been reinforced by Mr. Anastasiades’ statement that we (the government) have expressed condolences to the families despite the fact they are immigrant women. If ever there is racism this is indeed coming from the first Citizen of the Republic of Cyprus.
So what did AKEL say that was different to what the society as a whole said? That the big talk both the Minister of Justice Ioanas Nicolaou and the Chief of Police have been telling us for six years have proved to be fake. That there are serious problems in the Police Force and that they should have had the political ethos to assume their responsibility. They did not do so, and if the Democratic Rally party, aware of the political cost it had suffered, did not press for the resignation of the Minister of Justice then Mr. Nicolaou would never have resigned.
The President of the Republic and DISY President Neophytou are trying to convince the people that Ionas Nicolaou throughout his political career was always characterized by political ethos. This has made us furious as well as society as a whole which has risen up because society knows that after the six murders that have been committed in prisons, after rapes in prisons, after the murders committed outside of prison with police officers present there, after at least seven murders having been carried out, Mr. Nicolaou had no intention whatsoever of resigning. Nineteen days went by for him to resign. This isn’t political ethos – it is insensitivity.
I did not intend to engage in such type of discussions. Unfortunately, Mr. Neophytou has lowered the level so much that I have to respond to everything he has said in the last few days.
Mr. Neophytou says that circumstances demand unity and accord. At the same time as he is saying this he insists on delivering an unprecedented divisive political frenzy against AKEL to win some votes. What he is accusing AKEL of Mr. Neophytou himself is doing by employing accusations taken from by gone times, by putting forth arguments that are turning Cyprus’ political life back many decades.
I will repeat that we are not going to follow them on the downhill path they are leading to.
At the same time, however, we have an obligation to tell them not to have illusions. No citizen, whether right nor left-wing, but also neither centrist either, is going to forgive them for the lies they have been saying in recent years, the untrustworthiness with which they rule, the arrogance, the incapability of the persons which they have chosen to appoint in various posts, the corruption that exists, the insensitivity shown towards the many social problems that exist in society, the cuts in salaries imposed and the deadlocks that they have driven the Cyprus problem to.
By distractions they won’t get out of the difficult position they are in. They are simply proving who the ones are putting their party above the country’s interests, who are serving the interests of the few at the expense of the many.
The only thing Mr. Averof is achieving with these attacks is to prove who puts his party and the interests of the few, over and above those of the country.
It’s not words and slogans that prove that you’re a patriot. Its actions and deeds. And we have proven this in practice. We don’t need the praises of Mr. Neophytou.
Enough is enough. Mr. Neophytou told us that he will not tolerate us anymore. It is we who will not tolerate any longer the callousness, nor their cronyism, nor their clientelism, nor their scandals and interwoven interests. No more lies, enough of the communication games and propaganda, enough of their anti-AKEL mania.
With consistency, persistence and patience, AKEL will continue to struggle for the solution of the Cyprus problem and for the protection of the working people, the middle class and young people who see their dreams being killed because they cannot find a dignified job and to acquire a home, because they can’t sustain a family.
Instead of wasting its time in partisan television monologues, Mr. Neophytou should come out to talk with the people. He should go shopping to hear what the people are saying. He should go to a petrol station to fill up with petrol in the presence of TV cameras as he did 8 years ago. He should go to the UN to convey the positions they express on the Cyprus problem and to be convincing in what it says.
We urge them to see what reality is, to take their responsibilities and respond to the least in this terrible place.
Let Averof Neophytou come to engage in a open-minded political dialogue instead of cultivating a rampant party fanaticism. Party fanaticism has always been destructive and Mr. Neophytou should have known this been better than us, who declares that he represents what is “modern” and “European”.