YTjnti

Progressive Party of Working People
; Progressive Party of Working People; Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού; Emekçi Halkın İlerici Partisi;
	;
Abbreviation	; AKEL
General Secretary	; Andros Kyprianou;
Founded	; 15 August 1926 (91 years ago) (1926-08-15);
Headquarters	; Nicosia, Cyprus;
Newspaper	; Haravgi;
Youth wing	; United Democratic Youth Organisation (EDON)
Trade Union Wing	; Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO)
Ideology	; Communism; Marxism–Leninism; Reunification of Cyprus;
Political position	; Left-wing to far-left;
European affiliation	; Party of the European Left (Observer)
International affiliation	; International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties; International Communist Seminar;
European Parliament group	; European United Left–Nordic Green Left;
Colours	; Red;
House of Representatives	; ; 16 / 56 ; ;
European Parliament	; ; 2 / 6 ; ;
Municipal Councils	; ; 123 / 470 ; ;
Website
	; www.akel.org.cy;
	; Politics of Cyprus; ; Political parties; ; Elections; ; ;

The Progressive Party of Working People (Greek: Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού (ΑΚΕΛ), Anorthotikó Kómma Ergazómenou Laoú (AKEL); Turkish: Emekçi Halkın İlerici Partisi) is a Marxist-Leninist^[2]^[3]^[4]communist^[1]^[2]political party in Cyprus.

AKEL is one of the two major parties in Cyprus, and it supports an independent, demilitarized, and non-aligned Cyprus, and a federal solution of the internal aspect of the Cyprus problem. It places particular emphasis on rapprochement with the Turkish Cypriots. It supported entry into the European Union with certain reservations. AKEL also supported the Annan Plan in 2004, but in the end, they decided on a negative response, since they did not have time to formulate a response to the plan.^{[citation needed]}

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 late-2000s financial crisis, 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.^[3]^[4] The party is now in opposition following the 2013 election. The party's candidate was defeated in the 2018 presidential election against the incumbent president.

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 a nationalist 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 (Ploutis Servas) and Famagusta (Adam Adamantos).

List of general secretaries:

1936-1945 Ploutis Servas

1945-1949 Fifis Ioannou

1949-1988 Ezekias Papaioannou (a veteran of the Spanish Civil War)

1988-2009 Dimitris Christofias (6th President of the Republic of Cyprus)

2009–present Andros Kyprianou^[5]

Unlike its predecessor, AKEL was not against Enosis. 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. 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. Grivas later founded EOKA B, which supported the 1974 coup d'état following his death.

Foreign Minister of Greece Stavros Lambrinidis and President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias during his tenure in New York City in October 2011

About 1958, the Turkish Cypriot nationalist organization TMT started forcing Turkish Cypriots 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. The last Turkish Cypriot 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).^[6]

Recent history

Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Dimas (to the right) and leader of AKEL Andros Kyprianou

AKEL headquarters in Nicosia, Cyprus

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, serving in that post until 2006. His election was supported by AKEL, Movement for Social Democracy (EDEK), and the Democratic Party (DIKO).

AKEL is a member of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left political group in the European Parliament, and it is considered to be moderately eurosceptic. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, and in the 2004 European parliament election, AKEL elected two members (Adamos Adamou and Kyriacos Triantaphyllides).

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%.^[7]

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 (Kyriacos Triantaphyllides 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, saying, "It is an option on the table", but that it will require "study and planning".^[8]

In the 2013 presidential election, the AKEL candidate Stavros Malas lost by a margin of 42.52% to 57.48%.

Youth

AKEL youth conference in 1984 in Nicosia

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

Election results

Parliament

House of Representatives
Election	Votes			Seats
Election	#	%	Rank	#	±
1960	51,719	35.0	2nd	5 / 50	new
1970	68,229	34.1	1st	9 / 35	4
1976	With DIKO and EDEK			9 / 35	0
1981	95,364	32.8	1st	12 / 35	3
1985	87,628	27.4	3rd	15 / 56	3
1991	104,771	30.6	2nd	18 / 56	3
1996	121,958	33.0	2nd	19 / 56	1
2001	142,648	34.7	1st	20 / 56	1
2006	131,237	31.1	1st	18 / 56	2
2011	132,171	32.7	2nd	19 / 56	1
2016	90,204	25.7	2nd	16 / 56	3

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election	Votes			Seats
Election	#	%	Rank	#	±
2004	93,212	27.9	2nd	2 / 6	new
2009	106,922	34.9	2nd	2 / 6	0
2014	69,852	27.0	2nd	2 / 6	0

AKEL MPs

2011-Ongoing Adamos Adamou

2007-2011 Dina Akkelidou

2006-2011 Aristos Aristotelous

2011-Ongoing Irere Charalambides

1991-2008 Dimitris Christofias

2011-Ongoing Aristos Damianou

2004-Ongoing Stella Demetriou Misiaouli

1981-1991 Pavlos Diglis

2001-Ongoing Stavros Evagorou

2006-Ongoing Andreas Fakontis

1970-1991 Andreas Fantis

2008-Ongoing Yiannakis Gavriel

1991-2011 Aristophanes Georgiou

2011-Ongoing Giorgos K. Georgiou

1996-2009 Takis Hadjigeorgiou

2003-2011 Dinos Hadjinicolas

2011-Ongoing Christakis Jovanis

1991-Ongoing Nicos Katsourides

2011-Ongoing Andreas Kafkalias

2011-Ongoing Kostas Kosta

2008-Ongoing Skevi Koukouma Koutra

2001-Ongoing Andros Kyprianou

2006-2011 Pambis Kiritsis

2001-Ongoing Yiannos Lamaris

1996-2003 Giorgos Lillikas

2011-Ongoing Giorgos Loucaides

2008-2011 Klavdios Mavrohannas

2001-2006 Eleni Mavrou

2011-Ongoing Christos Mesis

2006-2011 Andreas Mouskalis

2011-Ongoing Pambos Papageorgiou

1960-1988 Ezekias Papaioannou

1985-1991 Michalis Papapetrou

1970-1991 Georgios Savvides

2006-Ongoing Panikkos Stavrianos

1996-2011 Yannakis Thoma

1960-1991 Andreas Ziartides

AKEL MEPs

2004-2009 Adamos Adamou

2004-2014 Kyriacos Triantaphyllides

2009–present Takis Hadjigeorgiou

2014–present Neoklis Sylikiotis

Notes

References

^ ^a^b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2016). "Cyprus". Parties and Elections in Europe.

^ ^a^b^c^d http://www.akel.org.cy/en/?p=1489#.VZrIYRJbxB8

^ ^a^b^c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2012-08-27.

^ ^a^b^c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2012-08-27.

^ "Ο νέος ΓΓ του ΑΚΕΛ (3) « Faros's Weblog". Faros.wordpress.com. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2010-06-17.

^ Benjamin, Roger W.; Kautsky, John H. "Communism and Economic Development", in The American Political Science Review, volume 62, number 1, March 1968, page 122.

^ "Cypriot victor rallies for unity". BBC News. 24 February 2008.

^ "Aνησυχεί το ΑΚΕΛ για την πορεία της Ε.Ε." YouTube. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

Bibliography

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. ISBN 978-9963-685-80-6

External links

AKEL's website in English (Greek, English and Turkish)

[Nordsieck-1] Nordsieck, Wolfram (2016). "Cyprus". Parties and Elections in Europe.

[akel.org.cy-2] ttp://www.akel.org.cy/en/?p=1489#.VZrIYRJbxB8

[:0-3] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2012-08-27.

[:1-4] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2012-08-27.

[faros-5] "Ο νέος ΓΓ του ΑΚΕΛ (3) « Faros's Weblog". Faros.wordpress.com. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2010-06-17.

[6] Benjamin, Roger W.; Kautsky, John H. "Communism and Economic Development", in The American Political Science Review, volume 62, number 1, March 1968, page 122.

[7] "Cypriot victor rallies for unity". BBC News. 24 February 2008.

[8] "Aνησυχεί το ΑΚΕΛ για την πορεία της Ε.Ε." YouTube. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2015.

v t e Political parties in Cyprus
House of Representatives	Democratic Rally (18) Progressive Party of Working People (16) Democratic Party (9) Movement for Social Democracy (3) Solidarity Movement (3) Movement of Ecologists — Citizens' Cooperation (2) National Popular Front (2) Citizens' Alliance (1) Independent (2)
Unrepresented	Cyprus Social Ecology Movement New Internationalist Left Popular Socialist Movement United Democrats Workers' Democracy
See also List of political parties in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
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YTjnti

Progressive Party of Working People

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