When young university graduates with or without a job say they are ashamed of the prevailing state of affairs in EU-member Cyprus you have to listen.
And it comes as no surprise that they pin their hopes on independent February 2023 presidential elections runner Achilleas Demetriades who has kept a distance from ‘dirty politics’.
But not from persistent efforts to bring about a much-needed change in the divided island’s political, economic and social life.
A young psychology graduate who was attending a casual ‘meet the youth’ gathering in Nicosia this week organized by the human rights expert’s campaign team said it all in one sentence.
“One swallow does not make a spring…but a flock certainly does,” Theo Eracleous told in-cyprus.com as he gazed at Demetriades chatting animatedly with a group of young ones.
As for a young couple, George who is a civil servant and Yiota, a development company employee, both said the same thing: “Cyprus deserves better, our generation deserves better.”
Another strong message they sent out was that is it unacceptable for a country which is a member of the EU to dominate news about corruption while meritocracy is basically absent.
And all this while youth unemployment or under-employment is at unacceptable levels while starting salaries for those who do get a job do not allow them to even dream of leaving their family homes and live on their own. Especially now that construction – and not only – costs have skyrocketed.
Demetriades was there to just listen and not make one promise after another.
“We have to speak to our future so as to help us build up a better present,” he said.
