Progressive Party of Working People

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Progressive Party of Working People (Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού)




Leader	Dimitris Christofias

Founded	1926
Headquarters	Nicosia, Cyprus

Political ideology	Communism
International affiliation

Website	http://www.akel.org.cy/

The Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) (Greek: Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού) is a communist party in Cyprus. It supports an independent, demilitarised and non-aligned Cyprus, and a federal solution of the internal aspect of the Cyprus problem. It places particular emphasis on re-approchement with the Turkish Cypriots. It supports entry into the European Union with certain reservations.

At the last legislative elections, on May 27, 2001, the party won 34.7% of the popular vote and 20 out of 56 seats. It was founded in 1926 with the name Communist Party of Cyprus (KKK). The communist party was supporting the independence of Cyprus and opposed Enosis (union with Greece) which was the main aim of most Greek Cypriot non-communists. The party became illegal in 1931 when the British colonial government imposed restrictions in 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
1949-1989 Ezekias Papaioannou (a veteran of the Spanish Civil War)
1989-present Dimitris Christofias

AKEL unlike its predecessor was not against Enosis but 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 fifties, AKEL was opposed to the violent tactics followed by the anti-British resistance movement of EOKA. EOKA accused AKEL as collaborators of the British, even though AKEL was also illegal since 1955. Several AKEL members were assassinated by EOKA at the time as "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'etat following his death. At about 1958, the Turkish Cypriot nationalist organization TMT started forcing Turkish Cypriots members of AKEL to leave. Editor of a workers newspaper Fazil Onder 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.

After the Parliament Elections' victory in 2001, AKEL's General Secretary, Dimitris Christofias, was elected parliament president (House President) and until 2006, for first time in the History of Republic of Cyprus. Except AKEL, he was supported by Movement for Social Democracy (EDEK) and Democratic Party (DIKO).

The coalition of those three parties, after electing Christofias as the House Parliament, didn't end. In the presidential elections in 2003, AKEL, DIKO and EDEK, achieve to elect the DIKO president, Tassos Papadopoulos as President of Cyprus. Since then AKEL is an active part of the Cypriot Government, with four ministers.

It is a member of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left in the European Parliament. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004. In the last European Elections, AKEL elected 2 members; Adamos Adamou and Kyriacos Triantaphyllides.

AKEL remained first political party on the island in the 2006 Cypriot legislative elections, however the party lost 2 seats in the parliament (gained 18 seats).