The former MP of EDEK in the Province of Famagusta, George Barnabas, as he states in a written announcement, will claim the Presidency of EDEK at the upcoming Electoral Congress of the party.
See his announcement as it is:
"By decision of the Central Committee of the Movement, dated June 30, 2021, the Movement is led to a Regular Pancyprian Electoral Congress on October 24 and 31 for the election of Senior Officials and members of the Central Committee.
The K.S. EDEK of Vassos Lyssaridis, Doros Loizos, Kokos Fotios, Doros Ilias, Renos Prenzas and so many other fighters of the Republic, the Socialist Force of Cyprus is called today to respond to the great problems that plague society. A society that has to deal with scandals, corruption, impunity, economic misery, unemployment, especially among young people, the confiscation of the property of people who have lost their jobs and their incomes, the huge financial problems that have arisen pandemic, like so many others.
The historical political force of the resistance, the Little Red Riding Hood of Vassos Lyssaridis, the struggles for Democracy and Justice, is today called to guard Thermopylae and to defend the rights of our people and the territorial integrity of our homeland, against the policy pursued by the occupying power Turkey and foreign agents who from time to time, with their illegal plans, try to overthrow the legitimate Republic of Cyprus and create an extremism, which with mathematical precision will lead to the complete Turkification of our homeland.
In order for the Movement to play its decisive role and achieve its goals in our national problem and in society, it must be strengthened and developed within the civil society itself, whose support is what will determine the its regulatory role.
This can not be achieved if within the Movement itself there is no competitiveness, solidarity, respect for the functioning of collective bodies, respect for the opposite view, respect for the principles and values that Vassos Lyssaridis passed on to us, ethics and more generally the unity between the members and the executives of the Movement, Democracy and transparency.
Unfortunately, in recent years none of the above has prevailed within the Movement, with the result that introversion and persecution are the characteristic phenomena that led to the reduced percentages and the deforestation of the Movement.
Proof, the fact that while the Movement in the 2011 parliamentary elections received 8,93% and in absolute numbers over 36,000 votes, electing 5 deputies, in the 2016 elections the percentage decreased to 6,18%, receiving 21,732 votes, ie a loss over 14,000 votes, electing only 3 deputies. In the recent Parliamentary Elections, despite the fact that the Movement came down in collaboration with the Citizens' Alliance, it received 6,72%, 24,000 votes, failing in all three goals it set before itself, namely its inclusion in the third distribution, the election at least 5 MPs, elected 4 and retaining fourth place, which for the first time in its history lost.
The exception is the European elections 2019, where he received 10,58%, creating the golden opportunity to build on this result and to reach out to the Cypriot society, which is plagued daily by scandals of entanglement and corruption. Instead, it entered into an endless introversion culminating in the removal of the Movement's MEP and the reaction of many executives, some of whom resigned from the bodies in which they participated and others distanced themselves.
The dismissals, the exclusion and the marginalization of executives, the unilateral decisions of the President with his assistants, the decision-making by incompetent persons in the circle of the President, the degradation of the collective bodies to the point that they rarely meet and are simply informed about agreements already signed for already taken decisions, the circumvention of the Statute of the Movement, even by the President himself, the intimidation of salaried staff and as a culmination the misuse of party money for their own benefit by the Chief Financial Officer of the Movement, a close associate of the President, the current situation prevailing within the Movement.
It is surprising that, despite the positive indications for the commission of the crime and the urgings from executives of the Movement to the President, I personally sent a written letter without receiving any response to remove the Chief Financial Officer from his duties, no not only did they not receive a positive response, on the contrary the President publicly defends that person in question, which raises many questions.
Taking into account all the above and feeling the sense of responsibility towards our Socialist Movement, towards the Founder of the Movement Vassos Lyssaridis, towards the Righteous Resistance who gave their lives for the defense of the Republic, against the ideological ordinary members and staff , who selflessly and unselfishly fought and offered their services so that the Movement could grow and offer through its socialist ideology to the Cypriot society, against the Youth of our Movement that envisions a better tomorrow for all the young people of Cyprus, I decided to claim the position of the President of the Movement at the forthcoming Electoral Congress.
With this decision my intention and goal is:
- The continuation of the struggle for the solution of the Cyprus problem with the aim of creating a state with one sovereignty, one people, one economy, one foreign policy, without divisions based on nationality or religion, the return of all refugees, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to their property in conditions full respect for human rights and the European acquis, without foreign troops and the abolition of the anachronistic treaties of Guarantees and Alliances.
- The emergence of the socialist physiognomy of our Movement through the policy of defending the low and middle income strata of the people.
- The opening of the Movement to civil society.
- The return to the Movement of deleted members and executives, if they wish, by decision of the collective bodies.
- Reattachment of distanced members and executives with the aim of their active reactivation.
- The full respect and implementation of the Statute of the Movement.
- The proper functioning, based on the Articles of Association, of the collective organs of the Movement aiming at collective decisions.
- Respecting and accepting the different point of view within the framework governed by the Statute of the Movement.
- The development of cooperation and codecision, with the President of the Movement being First and Equal among the whole.
- The promotion and promotion of new executives of the Movement within the collective bodies, the activities and the Mass Media.
- The full operation of the School of Executives, through which the new leaders will emerge.
- The full support of the EDEK Youth Organization, the Student Organizations of the Struggle, in Cyprus and abroad, as well as the Student Youth, in all sectors, organizational and financial.
- The support and cooperation with the Socialist Women's Movement of the Movement, which plays a very important role in defining the policy, which the Movement expresses in many issues that are directly related to women.
- The appointment of a qualified professional accountant, who in cooperation with the Economic Committee and the President of the Movement will manage with full transparency the finances of the Movement.
- Immediately after the election, the purchase of services by an Independent Audit Company, Big Four (PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young) for full control of the Movement's finances.
- In case of finding irregularities, the President of the Movement will immediately report a complaint to the police to investigate the whole case.
- The chronic collaboration with an Independent Audit House to Control the Movement's finances.
- The direct and full cooperation with the Auditor General of the Republic, so that the finances of the Movement, which has not been done since 2015, are subject to the legal control.
My most essential and basic goal is the Reunification of the Movement.
The Movement is nobody's property. The Movement does not belong to the respective President, but to its members and executives, as well as those in the Movement, without being characterized as belonging to the A 'or B' group. All a fist, united to give the struggles to the challenges of the difficult times that our country and society are going through.
There is no one left in this fight. I invite all Edekites to gather around the New Leadership of the Movement, which will emerge after the Electoral Congress and with competitiveness, solidarity and mutual respect to turn the page, for an EDEK reunited, strong and above all strong to be able to play its national and social role, for a Free Homeland, for Democracy and Justice, for Social Solidarity, for a better Cyprus of today and tomorrow, for us and the New Generations to come.
Together we can Reunite the Movement. Together we can create a Strong and Strong EDEK for tomorrow. ”