Through a comprehensive critique against Nikos Christodoulides, Stefanos Stefanou aims to convey to the electorate that AKEL is currently the opposition party to the government.
From Dromolaxia, the General Secretary of AKEL accused the President that his approach to the Cyprus issue has not produced any substantial results.
AKEL maintains a tough stance on both economic and immigration matters.
It is up to the President of the Republic to discuss our proposal for Cyprus or whether he will continue with the same approach he has followed since taking office, which has so far yielded no significant results, despite us being in the second year of Christodoulides’ governance, said AKEL’s General Secretary, Stefanos Stefanou.
Speaking at the unveiling of statues in Dromolaxia of Christakis Panayiotou and Christos Georgiou, who fought during the Turkish invasion of 1974 and whose remains were found during excavations for missing persons,
Stefanou noted that we refuse to compromise with the occupation, we refuse to submit to the two-state solution, leaving half of Cyprus to be lost.
He said that AKEL has submitted a specific comprehensive proposal “on how we can positively influence developments, how we can, to the extent of our capabilities, create momentum for the resumption of negotiations from where they were interrupted, preserving the convergences and negotiating on the basis of the Guterres Framework.”
He added that “it is up to the President to discuss our proposal or whether he will continue with the same approach he has followed since taking office. This approach has not yielded any substantial results so far, despite us being in the second year of Christodoulides’ governance. Developments are threatening, and no communication trick can prevent them. Only substantial policies and initiatives can.”
Stefanou said, “our homeland today is at the most critical juncture in its history. The Cyprus problem has been at a standstill since 2017; Ankara exploits the situation and proceeds unhindered with its plans for settlement, Turkification of the occupied areas, assimilation of the Turkish Cypriot community, and promotion of the unacceptable two-state solution.”
He mentioned that “faced with this critical situation, the Republic of Cyprus cannot remain indifferent. It cannot abandon efforts to achieve a solution that will end the Turkish occupation and reunify our land and people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, as envisaged by the agreed framework for a solution. We must constantly take initiatives aimed at breaking the deadlock, which fully serves the plans for division. We cannot settle for this. We cannot leave Cyprus exposed to risks.”
Moreover, in his statements, the General Secretary of AKEL stated that windfall profits should be taxed, not society. The previous government of Nicos Anastasiades from the Democratic Rally, he said, committed Cyprus to impose the so-called green taxes without any obligation, as the issue is still under discussion in the European Union, and no final decision has been made yet.
He also mentioned that “for this very reason, for the second time in a letter to the Minister of Finance, I request not to impose the so-called green taxes, considering the increasingly rising fuel prices, taking into account the overall high cost affecting households and businesses.”
