The government's "undermining and war" of semi-public organisations and its "failure" in the energy sector were referred to on Wednesday by AKEL's General Secretary, Stefanos Stefanou, adding that the only option for change is the candidacy of Andreas Mavroyiannis in the presidential elections.
In statements made during a visit to the provincial offices of the Telecommunications Authority in Limassol, Stefanou said that AKEL has over the years supported the role and work done by semi-public organisations such as Cyta, AEK and the Ports Authority in strategic sectors of the economy and society.
"We recognise this important role, which is of great benefit to the economy and society, unlike the Government which, for 10 years, has been undermining and fighting the work of semi-municipal organisations," he said.
He pointed out that "those in power twice tried through parliamentary procedures to sell off SYTA and fortunately we stood against it and managed to convince the majority not to accept this position, otherwise today SYTA would not be the property of the state and society and the 1.2 billion euros that SYTA gave directly to the state would be in the pockets of some private individuals".
In addition, the Secretary General of AKEL stated that "the unrest that exists at AEK and the intention for strike action on the part of all trade union organisations is an expression of the fact that this government, not only has never helped AEC, but is preventing it from making the investments it needs to make and refuses to enable AEC to be adequately staffed to enable it to perform the multiple roles it needs to perform."
Calling it a "major failure of the government in the energy field", Stefanou said that "it is no coincidence that Cyprus is paying hundreds of millions in pollution because (the government) seemed incapable of being able to bring in natural gas for power generation purposes".
"It seemed unable to open up the market, it seemed unable to meet the targets for renewables, which is also where Cyprus is at risk of serious fines from the EU, which will again come out of taxpayers' pockets," he added.
The situation with regard to the semi-governmental organisations and the 'war' they are facing from the government, along with everything else, form a very unfavourable picture for Cyprus and society, he continued.
"All this underlines the need for a change in Cyprus, a change of course," he said, adding that this change will come with Andreas Mavroyiannis at the helm of the Republic of Cyprus and not "with two candidates who declare themselves to be the successors of this government".
The AKEL General Secretary also spoke about the death of actress Dora Kakouratou, expressing sadness "for the death of a great lady of the Cypriot theatre, of Cypriot revue" with a remarkable career in Cypriot theatre.
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