Michalis Paraskevas () is a Cypriot lawyer who has been described as an

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and as a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. His activism work primarily concerned the rights and well-being of

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

s, and opposition to the austerity policies of the Cypriot government. He was an independent candidate for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Early life and education

Michalis Paraskevas was born and raised in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

to a Greek-Cypriot family. He has been influenced by his family and his social environment and he was raised to be proud of his Greek heritage and the national struggles, but he never was a nationalist or right-wing. He studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about east of Thessa ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Activism

In 2014, he refused to pay

social insurance Social insurance is a form of Social protection, social welfare that provides insurance against economic risks. The insurance may be provided publicly or through the subsidizing of private insurance. In contrast to other forms of Welfare spend ...

contributions as an act of

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

in response to the government's decision of writing-off a 7.2 billion euro

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

to the Social Insurance Fund, as suggested by the

Troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three' or the digit '3') may refer to: * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia Politics * Triumvirate, a political regime rul ...

in 2012. A refusal to comply with the court order to pay the fine could result in a jail sentence and probably disbarment. Michalis Paraskevas' civil disobedience was also connected to the refusal of the Minister of Finance to comply with the Social Insurance Fund 2010 Law, which obliged the Minister to repay some of the debt back to the Social Insurance account so as to create

real assets Real assets is an investment asset class that covers investments in physical assets such as real estate, energy, and infrastructure. Real assets have an inherent physical worth. Real assets differ from financial assets in that financial assets ge ...

, and to appoint an independent committee for auditing purposes. The initiative concerning the Social Insurance Fund resulted in the creation of a small team of activists called "Initiative for Social Control of Social Insurance Fund". It demanded the return of money from the state to the Social Insurance Fund, and reformation of the way the Fund is controlled so as to allow for some direct control by the citizens. As he explained in interviews following the 2018 Presidential Election, when the same people were candidates, as if nothing happened, he realized that the impact of this endearing effort simply had no practical effect on society and that the civil disobedience as way of social struggle or awaking in Cyprus society was at least insufficient
ΕΥΡΩΕΚΛΟΓΕΣ 2019-ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΑΣActive Radio Cyprus on Facebook Watch

Ideas, influences, and political stances

Michalis Paraskevas has consistently defended human rights and social equality. He identified himself as an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

who supports

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

, and named

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

, Mikhail Bekunin,

Errico Malatesta Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist, theorist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expel ...

and

Alexander Berkman Alexander Berkman (November 21, 1870June 28, 1936) was a Russian-American anarchist and author. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century, famous for both his political activism and his writing. Be ...

as his influences. At some point, he vehemently opposed voting and all contact with political parties, and argued that anyone running for office does it for personal gain, and also argued against the hypocrisy of tie-wearing politicians. He later switched position and lobbied parliamentary parties in order to influence the legislative process. A quote from one of his interviews: In December 2018, he announced his candidacy for the European Parliament Elections of May 2019 and started wearing a tie on TV. He also claimed that his political views and aspirations partly overlap with two parties, the Cyprus Green Party and the

Citizens' Alliance Citizens' Alliances were state and local anti-trade union organizations prominent in the United States of America during the first decade of the 20th century. The Citizen's Alliances were closely related to employers' associations but allowed p ...

. On 14 January 2019 he announced that he would be running for office as an independent candidate. In justifying his decision, he stated that society wants others to decide. He also stated that his personal long-term goal is to participate in decisions. He has a distinctive style and mannerisms, characterised by "fiery posturing", furious and energetic "as if about to explode".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraskevas, Michalis 1976 births Living people Cypriot activists Anti-austerity protests in the European Union Cypriot politicians