The Progressive Party of Working People (, , ΑΚΕΛ or AKEL; ) is a Marxist–LeninistHelena Smith,
Cyprus gets ready for a communist 'takeover'
'
The Guardian
2008 communist party in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. AKEL is one of the two major parties in Cyprus, and it supports a federal solution of the internal aspect of the

Cyprus problem The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of th ...

and it places particular emphasis on

rapprochement In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word ''rapprocher'' ("to bring together"), is a re-establishment of cordial relations between two countries. This may be done due to a mutual antagonist, as the German Empire ...

with the

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

. It supported entry into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

with certain reservations. Initially supportive of the Annan Plan in 2004, the AKEL ultimately opposed the plan because the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

did not provide guarantees on post-reunification security. As a strong supporter of welfare benefits and nationalization, AKEL successfully put into practice several social measures to support the economic welfare of Cypriots during the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

, such as increasing low pensions by 30% and strengthening the welfare benefits given to university students to €12 million per year. Overall, €1.2 billion were spent on welfare benefits during the first three years that AKEL was in power, with various improvements made in social welfare provision. The party has been in opposition since the 2013 election. The party's candidate was defeated in the 2018 presidential election against the incumbent president. For the 2023 presidential election, the party supported independent candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis, who was also defeated.

History

It was founded in 1926 with the name Communist Party of Cyprus (CPC; , ). The communist party set as its aim not only the struggle against exploitation, but also the independence of Cyprus from British rule. The party became illegal in 1931 when the British colonial government-imposed restrictions on civil rights following the Cyprus revolt riot. In 1941, leading members of the underground communist party and others founded AKEL. In the first municipal elections in 1943 (before that mayors were appointed) AKEL candidates became mayors of

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

( Ploutis Servas) and

Famagusta Famagusta, also known by several other names, is a city located on the eastern coast of Cyprus. It is located east of the capital, Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime ...

(Adam Adamantos). Unlike its predecessor, AKEL was not against

Enosis ''Enosis'' (, , "union") is an irredentist ideology held by various Greek communities living outside Greece that calls for them and the regions that they inhabit to be incorporated into the Greek state. The idea is related to the Megali Idea ...

. Instead, AKEL supported a gradual process, starting off with a constitution and self-government, while Cyprus would remain a colony, leading to self-determination and Enosis. After the failure of the consultative assembly in 1949 to grant a constitution acceptable to the Cypriot members, AKEL changed line, supporting immediate Enosis with no intermediate stages. During the late 1950s, AKEL was opposed to the violent tactics followed by the anti-British resistance movement of

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA ; ) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of Cyprus#Cyprus under the British Empire, British rule in Cyprus, and for enosis, eventual union with K ...

. EOKA accused AKEL of being collaborators with the British, even though AKEL had also been illegal since 1955. Several AKEL members were assassinated by EOKA at the time for being "traitors", including AKEL supporter Savas Menikou, who was stoned to death. AKEL denounced EOKA's leadership as being anti-communist, as its leader George Grivas had fought against the communist side during the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

. Grivas later founded EOKA B, which supported the 1974 coup d'état following his death. About 1958, the Turkish Cypriot nationalist organization TMT started forcing

members of AKEL to leave. Editor of a workers' newspaper Fazıl Önder was killed and the head of the Turkish bureau of PEO (AKEL's trade union) Ahmet Sadi moved to the UK to save his life. In the first presidential elections for independent Cyprus, AKEL backed Ioannis Kliridis (father of Glafkos Klerides) against

Makarios III Makarios III (born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos; 13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Greek Cypriots, Greek Cypriot prelate and politician who served as Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977 and as the first president o ...

. The last

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

to be a member of the central committee of AKEL, Derviş Ali Kavazoğlu, was killed by TMT in 1965. In the mid 1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 10,000 (3.25% of the working age population).

Recent history

At the legislative elections on 27 May 2001, the party won 34.7% of the popular vote and 20 out of 56 seats. After this election, AKEL's General Secretary, Dimitris Christofias, was elected as President of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, serving in that post until 2006. His election was supported by AKEL,

Movement for Social Democracy The EDEK Socialist Party (, EDEK) is a Greek Cypriot nationalist, social-democratic political party in Cyprus. Overview The party was founded by Vassos Lyssarides in 1969 as the United Democratic Centre Union, EDEK (, ΕΔΕΚ). It was origin ...

(EDEK), and the Democratic Party (DIKO). AKEL is a member of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left political group in 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 ...

, and it is considered to be moderately eurosceptic. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, and in the

2004 European parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but elect ...

, AKEL elected two members (

Adamos Adamou Adamos Adamou (born 30 October 1950) is a Cyprus, Cypriot politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Progressive Party of Working People, sitting with the European United Left – Nordic Green Left, European United Le ...

and

Kyriacos Triantaphyllides Kyriacos Triantaphyllides (born 3 September 1944, Palaichori) is a Cypriot politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Progressive Party of Working People, sitting with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left group, on th ...

). AKEL remained the largest political party in the 2006 legislative elections; however, the party lost two seats, winning 18 seats with 31.31% of the vote. In the second round presidential election held on 24 February 2008, Dimitris Christofias, General Secretary of AKEL, was elected President of Cyprus. Christofias won 53.36% of the vote against his right-wing opponent Ioannis Kasoulidis' 46.64%. On 21 January 2009, Andros Kyprianou was elected general secretary of the party with 54.3% in the central committee election. In the 2009 election to the European Parliament, AKEL received 34.9% of the votes, and again elected two out of Cyprus' six members (

and Takis Hadjigeorgiou). In the 2014 election, they held their two seats with a reduced 27% of the vote. In the 22 May 2011 legislative election AKEL received 32.67% of the votes, and elected 19 out of the 56 members of parliament. In an interview with Athens News Agency, party leader Andros Kyprianou said that AKEL was considering Cyprus' exit from the

eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...

, saying, "It is an option on the table", but that it will require "study and planning". In the 2013 presidential election, Stavros Malas, who was supported by AKEL lost by a margin of 42.52% to 57.48%. In the 2018 presidential

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, conservative president

Nicos Anastasiades Nicos Anastasiades ( ; born 27 September 1946) is a Cypriot politician and businessperson, who served as the seventh president of Cyprus from 2013 to 2023. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally between 1997 and 2013 and served as Me ...

won a second five-year term with 56 percent of the vote. The AKEL-backed independent candidate, Stavros Malas, lost the election with 44 percent. In 2016 legislative

AKEL was the second largest party with 25.7 percent of the vote, 7 percent less than the previous election. Niyazi Kızılyürek was elected to the European Parliament in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

for AKEL, making him the first Turkish-Cypriot to enter the European Parliament and thus breaking what was considered a taboo on the island. AKEL advocates the creation of a federal state in which Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots would live together.

Youth

The party's youth wing is the United Democratic Youth Organisation, which was founded in 1959.

Election results

Parliament

European Parliament

Presidential Elections

AKEL MPs

* 2011–present

* 2007–2011 * 2006–2011 * 2011–present Irene Charalambidou * 1991–2008 Dimitris Christofias * 2011–present * 2004–2006, 2008-2016 * 1981–1991 Pavlos Diglis * 2001–2016 * 2006–2021 * 1970–1991 * 2008–present Yiannakis Gavriel * 1991–2011 * 2011–2019 Giorgos Georgiou * 1996–2009 Takis Hadjigeorgiou * 2003–2011 Dinos Hadjinicolas * 2011–present Christakis Jovanis * 1991–present Nicos Katsourides * 2011–present * 2011–present Kostas Kosta * 2008–present Skevi Koukouma Koutra * 2001–present Andros Kyprianou * 2006–2011 Pambis Kyritsis * 2001–present Yiannos Lamaris * 1996–2003 Giorgos Lillikas * 2011–present Giorgos Loucaides * 2008-2011 Klavdios Mavrohannas * 2001–2006 Eleni Mavrou * 2011–present

Christos Mesis Christos may refer to: * Jesus of Nazareth * Christ (title), a title for the Jewish Messiah in Christianity * Christos (surname) * Christos (given name) *, a Greek owned, Liberian flagged cargo ship in service 1962-71 See also * Christ (disa ...

* 2006–2011 Andreas Mouskalis * 2011–2016 Pambos Papageorgiou * 1960–1988 Ezekias Papaioannou * 1985–1991 Michalis Papapetrou * 1970–1991 Georgios Savvides * 2006–present Panikkos Stavrianos * 1996–2011 Yannakis Thoma * 1960–1991 Andreas Ziartides

AKEL MEPs

* 2004–2009

* 2004–2014

* 2009–2019 Takis Hadjigeorgiou * 2014–2019 Neoklis Sylikiotis * 2019–2024 Niyazi Kızılyürek * 2019–present Giorgos K. Georgiou

List of general secretaries

* 1936–1945 Ploutis Servas * 1945–1949 Fifis Ioannou * 1949–1988 Ezekias Papaioannou * 1988–2009 Dimitris Christofias (6th President of the

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...

) * 2009–2021 Andros Kyprianou * 2021–present Stefanos Stefanou

References

Citations

Sources

* Panayiotou, A. (2006) "Lenin in the Coffee-Shop: The Communist Alternative and Forms of non-Western Modernity", ''Postcolonial Studies'', 9, 3, pp. 267–280. * Adams (1971) ''AKEL: The Communist Party of Cyprus''. California: Hoover Press * Lefkis, G. (1984) ''Roots'' (Limassol). * Fantis (2005) ''The Cypriot Trade Union Movement During the Period of British Colonialism'' (Nicosia) * Servas (1985, 1991) ''Responsibilities'' (Athens, Grammi). * Peristianis (2006) "The Rise of the Left and Intra-Ethnic Cleavages" in Faustmann, H. and Peristianis, N. (ed.), ''Britain in Cyprus, Colonialism and Post-colonialism 1878-2006''. Mannheim, Bibliopolis. * Philippou, Lambros (2010) "The Cypriot Paradox: The Communist Way Towards Political Liberalism", ''Cyprus Review'', 22, 1, pp. 129–149. * Δίγκλης, Παύλος (2010) ΑΚΕΛ. Με τόλμη και παρρησία: Προσωπικές μαρτυρίες. Εκδόσεις Επιφανίου.

External links

AKEL's website in English
(also available in Greek and Turkish) {{Authority control 1926 establishments in Cyprus

Communist parties in Cyprus Cypriot nationalism Cyprus Emergency Parties represented in the European Parliament Party of the European Left observer parties Political parties established in 1926 Political parties in Cyprus International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties