ERAS (Committee for a Radical Left Rally, ''Επιτροπή για μια Ριζοσπαστική Αριστερή Συσπείρωση'') was a far-left organisation in the

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. It was founded in 2011 by communist and socialist activists in an attempt to organise the people of the radical left in Cyprus. Due to internal disagreement between its various factions ERAS was eventually dissolved in 2014, with one faction forming the bi-communal group ''ΔΡΑΣυ-Eyelem'' and participating in the Cypriot European Elections of the same year.

Political Views

ERAS identified itself as a communist political party. It claimed to hold a strong position in favor of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...

and supported the permanent nationalisation of the banking sector. It supported the reduction of Defense expenses and the duration of conscription in the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

. It held a strong anti-austerity position concerning the

austerity measures Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

agreed upon between the Troika and the government of Cyprus. It chose not to support any candidate in the 2013 presidential elections, stating that "within the current conditions, we should have had our own candidate in order to strongly express the ideas and strength of the radical left" but that "since ERAS is a recently founded committee, we deemed that we do not have at the moment the organisational capacity or the resources to undergo an electoral campaign". The Committee also stated that the AKEL-backed candidate, Stavros Malas, does not "guarantee in any way the defense of the interests of the people and the working class and promotes the delusion that it is possible in the conditions of this crisis to retain the social interest without opposition to the central decisions of the bourgeoisie." ERAS has also stated support for the abolition of benefits of high-ranking state officials, the right to abortion, the decriminalisation of cannabis and the right of

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

recognition for homosexual couples.

Activities

On 8 November 2012, ERAS organised the first protest against austerity and the Troika negotiations that were still taking place. Protesters were gathered outside the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

holding banners and shouting slogans against austerity. Leaflets with alternative proposals for the economy were distributed in the protest, with proposals including the nationalisation of banking, the reduction of the army and the freezing of the army budget, and the increase of the corporate tax. Members of the New Internationalist Left (NEDA) also participated in the protest. On 11 January 2013, members of ERAS organised a protest outside the hotel that hosted the meeting of the European People's Party in Cyprus. The protesters shouted against neo-liberalism, capitalism and the memorandum, while some of them wore masks with the faces of various European leaders.

References

{{Reflist Anti-fascist organizations Communist parties in Cyprus Euroscepticism in Cyprus Ecosocialist parties Political parties established in 2011 2011 establishments in Cyprus 2010s in Cypriot politics