Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letympiotis sees no blackmailing dilemma in the letter from the DIKO Secretariat to the President of the Republic requesting greater involvement in thegovernment—a request that, in fact, led to yesterday’s meeting between Nikolas Papadopoulos and Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace.

In his remarks, he noted that this was the third consecutive meeting between the President of the Republic and the President and Secretariat of DIKO “which should come as no surprise and is self-evident.”

“DIKO is a key partner in the government and, like DIPA and EDEK, contributes to the implementation of the government’s agenda. It is a common view that the implementation of the government’s agenda—the policies the government promotes and implements—constitutes a success. They serve as a catalyst for how these policies can impact citizens’ daily lives, and the officials of the DIKO Secretariat themselves acknowledge this and highlighted it during the pre-election period in a very distinctive manner.”

The Government Spokesperson clarified that no agenda item or issue brought before the President can be considered to have been raised as a form of blackmail “and certainly not by a government partner.”

“Every political force that supports the President, every political force that does not support the government, has the democratic right to bring matters before the President for discussion. And the President, of course, will listen respectfully to all these issues and exercise his constitutional powers as he sees fit, after having assessed all the facts in accordance with the mandate given to him by the Cypriot people.”

Mr. Letympiotis said that the new members of DEFA were appointed today, having gone through the process of the Advisory Council and been approved by the House of Representatives, “a process that is embraced by society, as we are seeing an increase in the number of candidates, and this is something that pleases us.”

“Of course, there was an exchange of views within the framework of respect and candor that governs this collaboration, and we believe that as it progresses—and this is a shared observation—the more it progresses, the better it becomes, and the more the implementation of the President’s governance program is strengthened and accelerated, the more this benefits the citizens.”

SEE ALSO: Nikolas asked the President for greater participation in the government