Today, the President of the Parliament and President of the Democratic Alarm, Ms. Annita Dimitriou, accompanied by the Vice President, Mr. George Georgiou and the Parliamentary Representative, Mr. Nikos Tornaritis, had a meeting with the Secretary General of AKEL, Mr. Stefanos Stefanou.
After the meeting, Mr. Stefanou stated the following:
"I welcomed dear Anita to the offices of the AKEL Central Committee. I have nothing more to add beyond what I said when I welcomed Annita to the offices, but I must say that at this time of the meeting we had the opportunity to discuss various issues, to exchange some views, starting with the Cyprus issue which we will certainly discuss next Thursday at the session of the National Council. We expect to be informed by the President so that we can express our views more specifically, to appreciate what the President of the Republic says but also to convey our own views to him. We also chatted about other issues related to the domestic political scene. Inevitably the work in the Parliament, Mrs. Dimitriou is also the President of the Parliament and a large part of the work and activity of the parties is also done within the Parliament.
I am sure that this discussion will continue, as we have said we are open to dialogue always based on the political agenda and the issues that are before the place, the society, the workers, the ordinary people".
For her part, Mrs. Dimitriou stated the following:
"It is important and I want to thank my friend, my dear colleague Stefanos Stefanou, the General Secretary of AKEL for this first meeting after this and for assuming my duties as President of the Democratic Alarm, formally. We know that we have different positions on several issues, I would say, but it is always important that we are here, not to operate dogmatically but to find agreements for the good of the country and the citizens. We exchanged views on several issues, primarily on the Cyprus issue, we will see them on Thursday at the National Council. We will be here to exchange views, to find ways to function better both as institutions and as political forces and within the House of Representatives. We also discussed issues related to the functioning of the Parliament and of course we will continue for our Cyprus and for each individual citizen".
To a question about whether the position of the opposition, in which both the largest parties in Cyprus are, brings them even closer, the Speaker of the Parliament and President of the Democratic Alarm, answered the following:
"It is the position of both of us to belong to the responsible opposition. It is important for those we agree with if we need to go even further and for those we disagree to file our own counter-proposals. I wish we don't have to disagree on something, but you understand that the issues are quite complicated, the issues we have to manage are complex, the developments are stormy, so this implies more responsibility for us precisely who belong to the area of the responsible opposition".
Mr. Stefanou added the following:
"As we stated from the first moment after the completion of the elections, AKEL is in the opposition. AKEL always militantly defends its positions, opinions and claims, but at the same time it is serious, responsible and patriotic towards the country and the people, and this is how we will proceed. Dialogue often provides ways out, if there are no consensuses and agreements which is what is being sought and which is also very normal, different opinions exist, there is also a way to oppose and be creative".
When asked about the images of violence in the stadiums, Mr. Stefanou stated the following:
"Of course we are also concerned, they are reprehensible and unacceptable. The issues of violence in stadiums have been discussed many times, specific legislation has been promoted and decisions have been made. It is clear that there needs to be a re-evaluation and there has been a lot of discussion for example about the fan card, about the adequacy or not of the pitches and other procedures. We always want to operate as Prometheus and not after any episodes. On this occasion, it should be discussed very seriously again, the legal framework and procedures should be evaluated, but this should not be done over time, not even simply so that decisions are not made in relation to the specific episodes. So here we are as a party and I believe as a Parliament to listen to what the government has to say which should take the initiative".
Mrs. Annita Dimitriou added the following:
"All institutions, I think we agree, must assume their role. All that we see is reprehensible, all this concerns us once again and that is why everyone needs to take their responsibilities. If it is necessary for us as political forces, as the House of Representatives, to modernize the legislative framework, we will be here, and I am sure that it will concern the House of Representatives, and our position as Democratic Alarm coincides with this point of view. There can't be such incidents, such developments nowadays."