TY - JOUR
T1 - No bridge over troubled waters
T2 - The Cypriot left in government, 2008-2013
AU - Charalambous, Giorgos
AU - Ioannou, Gregoris
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2015.
PY - 2015/6/22
Y1 - 2015/6/22
N2 - In 2008, leftists across Europe hailed the election of communist leader Dimitris Christofias to executive office in the Republic of Cyprus as a breakthrough, with grand prospects for progressive, leftward change. The Cypriot left in the form of AKEL seemed to be the exception in the neoliberal European political universe, offering a new hope and the potential for an alternative political course. AKEL’s rise to executive power was seen as evidence that the left could head the government in a European state, and as an example for other left parties. Five years on, during a period in which Cyprus has signed a bailout agreement with the Troika comparable to those of Greece, the right has triumphantly returned to office, some of the harshest austerity measures have been imposed by EU elites and passed by parliament, and with public opinion on the left government’s record unprecedentedly negative, the issue of communist participation in the executive is once again, rightfully back on the agenda.
AB - In 2008, leftists across Europe hailed the election of communist leader Dimitris Christofias to executive office in the Republic of Cyprus as a breakthrough, with grand prospects for progressive, leftward change. The Cypriot left in the form of AKEL seemed to be the exception in the neoliberal European political universe, offering a new hope and the potential for an alternative political course. AKEL’s rise to executive power was seen as evidence that the left could head the government in a European state, and as an example for other left parties. Five years on, during a period in which Cyprus has signed a bailout agreement with the Troika comparable to those of Greece, the right has triumphantly returned to office, some of the harshest austerity measures have been imposed by EU elites and passed by parliament, and with public opinion on the left government’s record unprecedentedly negative, the issue of communist participation in the executive is once again, rightfully back on the agenda.
KW - AKEL
KW - Christofias
KW - Cypriot left
KW - government participation
KW - radical left
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84931436951&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0309816815587078
DO - 10.1177/0309816815587078
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84931436951
SN - 0309-8168
VL - 39
SP - 265
EP - 286
JO - Capital and Class
JF - Capital and Class
IS - 2
ER -