Cyprus-Forum.com

[miltiades]

I have stated before that I have never been a lover of Akel , but it looks to me that there are no other parties that enjoy the support that Akel does , and also part of the Akel ideologies , ie Socialist ideals , are no doubt shared by Turkish Cypriot Socialists.
Zypezokyli , I do hope you as well as other posters , give the "blood issue " a rest , both sides committed atrocities .I specifically refrained in my 311 postings from mentioning any thing about atrocities think the issues we should address are the current ones .

[Kifeas]

Piratis , very eloquently explained , I do wish however that AKEL would make the break from the communist ideology official , and further more its leaders refrained from the many venomous attacks on the USA.
Of course we the Cypriots know that Akel is fundamentally a socialist party but I don't know whether it is seen as such by the USA . Do you think that AKEL could be instrumental in formulating bi-communal political entities , ie perhaps a new party along the lines of let us say The Pan - Cyprus Socialist Party , known as PSK ,
and made up of all Cypriots., dedicated to the unification of Cyprus and the well being of all Cypriots.Such party no doubt would enjoy support from Akel supporters as well as Turkish Cypriot socialists.There Im sure very many Turkish Cypriot politically motivated individuals who have the interests of Cyprus as a whole at heart , and would no doubt welcome such an event.

for that to happen , akel should have followed one of the basic ideas of the left - namely internationalism... well it never did.
akel was never able to understand how much nationalism itself carried. the fact that it is the party that has kept its hand clean from tc blood , it doesnot mean that it did something positive towards tcs. especially the last two years akel seems to be less and less trusted by the tcs. the reason is that akel has always put its voting powers over cyprus. it has always chosen the easy way. never took important decisions , never made big mistakes , never wrote history. always a party afraid to assume responsibility.
sadik and piratis are kind of right about akel.

Cypezokyli, beyond reproducing in the forums the anti-Akel empty talk and aphorisms of Makarios Drousiotis and some others, I would have liked to hear from you what specific and particular in your opinion policies and /or actions Akel should or could have taken (or not have taken) in the modern history of Cyprus and which would have made a marked positive difference to our known historical pathway. Do not tell me things which could have made no difference any way, but only things (actions /policies) which would have made a difference. As for Akel harboring and /or cultivating nationalism, based on what evidence do you make such a claim?

[sadik]

AKEL is in practice a socialist party.

It is one of the most stable parties in Cyprus and is doing what it can to help the working class within the limits that EU and the new capitalistic world demands. This, along with tradition, is why people vote for this party.

What Russia had was a bad representation of communism and not how communism (in theory) should have been. No Cypriot would like to see in Cyprus what you had in Russia, and AKEL would not try to enforce such thing even if they got over 50% of the votes.

Democracy is the only way for Cyprus and this is accepted by all parties and the great majority of the people.

Actually, AKEL was aligned with and even controlled by the Soviet Communist Party, until the Soviet Union collapsed. Most AKEL leaders were educated in Russia. AKEL's trade unions had scholarship programmes to send Cypriots to universities in the Eastern Europe. Even though ordinary AKEL supporters never knew what was going on in the Soviet Union, AKEL leaders were very well aware of the degree of poverty, oppression and corruption in the USSR. However they kept silent in order not to harm the cause.

[michalis5354]

Akel was initially against Cyprus membershib to the EU and to Nato. Now it has changed policies .It had never pursued a concrete and consistent policy in any issue! Yet it is considered one of the biggest parties!

[Sotos]

AKEL is THE biggest party. Not just considered Did any of you vote for AKEL? I think no. So to answer Olgas question I voted for AKEL because is the party that cares most for the working class and for Cyprus. The others care for the interests of some capitalists and for the chair more than they care for Cyprus! Sadik, many AKEL leaders were educated in USSR because they are coming from the working class and their parents could not afford to send them to UK or USA to study! At that time only the very rich could study at UK and USA!

[michalis5354]

I remember Akel was also againts privitisations. This had brought the Cyprus Airways in to a disaster.Being controlled mainly by the state with all this protectionism and ineficient policies the company now is struggling to survive and to stay in business. It is very unlikely that will still operate in the future. In Fact it can stay in business but at the expense of the real tax payer who pays the burden at the end of the day!

[michalis5354]

The others care for the interests of some capitalists and for the chair more than they care for Cyprus

Doesnt this applies to all parties including AKEL? Who are these capitalist by the way as I am hearing this many times and I think it ibelongs to the conspiracy theory again!

[coredump]

I remember Akel was also againts privitisations. This had brought the Cyprus Airways in to a disaster.Being controlled mainly by the state with all this protectionism and ineficient policies the company now is struggling to survive and to stay in business. It is very unlikely that will still operate in the future. In Fact it can stay in business but at the expense of the real tax payer who pays the burden at the end of the day!

I have read also (in Cyprus Mail ?) that AKEL actually used to "buy" votes by satisfying CY's trade unions demands of increase of salaries and benefits and to create more unnecessary workplaces. Nobody cared at that times where does those piles of money come from. That's one of the reasons why CY's fares are the most expensive and the company has bloated wage bill (which they can't easily cut down now because of trade unions).
I guess that similar things used to happen to other state owned companies/monoplies (CYTA, EAC etc.)

[coredump]

I voted for AKEL because is the party that cares most for the working class and for Cyprus.

I must disagree with you. Could you give one example when AKEL helped the working class in the long term? They seem to be helpful every time when the next elections are close. But they do not care what will happen in the future. See what is happening to Cyprus Airways' working class: AKEL "helped" them many times when they were demanding pay increase but now they are facing the possibility of losing their jobs at all.

[michalis5354]

Of course ! They have never cared about the tax payer, the business man, jobs , investment they were being guided by protectionist policies that have leaded the Cyprus Airways , the Cy bc, to a total disaster!

Akel changes 200 coulours within a single day! It is a party of ignorance and coruption!