AKEL keeps election spending down

ANTI-TROIKA opposition party AKEL pressed its own austerity button for last month’s European Parliament election campaign, spending less than a quarter of the budget spent in the previous Euro-elections five years earlier.

AKEL on Thursday handed over details of the party’s spending in the European Parliament elections to the interior ministry’s chief returning officer, as required by law.

According to the party’s press release, AKEL spent €124,869 on promoting its six MEP candidates in the election campaign, with funding coming from the coffers of AKEL’s central committee.

Total campaign expenditure came to less than a quarter of the budget spent in the last Euro-elections in 2009, which came to €628,461.

“The costs of the election campaign were drastically reduced due to financial difficulties,” said AKEL, adding that the savings made as a result would be used to support the community groceries and associations providing social support.