Savia Orfanidou claims she is the target of a personal attack by AKEL following her statements that AKEL’s return to power is now possible, in the wake of recent events within the Democratic Rally.
“My personal opinion, of course, is that as long as this atmosphere persists, it doesn’t help any of us,” says Savia Orphanidou when asked whether there is a possibility that the timelines for submitting candidacies and the internal party elections to select DISY’s candidate might change, following the reactions that have been recorded and pending the decision of the party’s Political Bureau.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Ms. Orfanidou sought to respond to AKEL, arguing that she is the target of a personal attack for expressing the Democratic Rally’s political position.
“Let me tell AKEL that we do not need permission to take a political stance on what we consider to be disastrous and harmful to the country—a position we have been reiterating constantly for decades, which many of our leaders have also been repeating—Onoufrios Koulas said it yesterday, as did Haris Georgiadis, Efthymios Diplaros, myself, and many others—and we will continue to say so. That any support, in any form, for AKEL’s candidate—which would pave the way for that candidate to return to power—is, for us, politically speaking, is detrimental. Because we are fundamentally at odds with AKEL ideologically and politically. And it really is puzzling that they haven’t realized this by now and taken it to heart. And on economic issues, we also disagree fundamentally.”
“Everything that is happening within the Democratic Alarm, which causes us great concern, sadness, and distress, is leading us to support any political opponent, whether his name is Nikos Christodoulides—if and when he runs for office—or our natural political rival, AKEL,”, he continued.
He listed the issues on which DISY disagrees with AKEL, with the discussion turning into a confrontation between the two.
AKEL Press Secretary Haris Polykarpou then took the floor, noting Ms. Orfanidou’s agitation, commenting that she was upset about the possibility of the AKEL candidate being elected but was not upset about what happened during the 13 years that Synagermos was in power.
“It’s striking. Obviously, for Ms. Orfanidou—and for Synagermos as well—their problem isn’t whether the country is sinking; their problem is whether the plunge will be blue or something else. The only thing they care about is a seat in the Alarm Party, because I haven’t heard a single political argument about how they’ll change the country.”
“We’re not just focusing on who the candidate will be; we’re also discussing how the country will change,” he continued.
“What’s striking about this discussion—because I’ve been listening to the arguments for so long—is how the right and the far right, and I don’t even know where to look—the right and the far right—are united in their opposition to AKEL. Because throughout this entire discussion, the problem is AKEL—not the country’s problems, not how we’ll help the people, and not how we’ll make the country better. So, I’m telling you that we will make our decisions in a timely manner. We have a very specific plan for how we will move forward.”
“Honestly, our concern is the country,” replied Ms. Orfanidou, stating that DISY has 31 policies that it has made public.
ELAM Is in No Hurry
“We’re in no rush,” replied Marios Pelekanos, Head of the Press and Communications Office of ELAM, when asked what they will do regarding the 2028 presidential election, adding that decisions will be made after the party convention in November.
“Once our electoral convention is over, we’ll address these issues in due course. Now is not the time to address these issues.”
When asked if he is close to any particular candidate, he replied that they will sit down with the contenders, analyze the data, and make decisions.
When asked to assess Christodoulides’ administration, he noted that he agrees on several issues, such as a clear Western orientation and strengthening relations with the U.S., Israel, Egypt, and France, but he disagrees on critical national issues.
