It is not out of the question that VOLT Cyprus will field its own candidate in the presidential election, said VOLT Cyprus Secretary-General Efi Xanthou during an appearance on the “Alpha Enimerosi” program, following Saturday’s electoral convention. Ms. Xanthou also spoke about VOLT’s post-election review, which revealed that the Sandy case was one of the factors that kept the party out of Parliament.
“The review process began and took a long time. I suppose some members felt that not enough was done. We are listening to this as the Political Council, and the new Executive Committee is meeting today to see how we can address this issue. If our members feel that there hasn’t been enough dialogue on this specific issue, then we will certainly reopen that dialogue. However, we also conducted a feedback process via a questionnaire, which was open not only to our members but also to people who supported us or wanted to provide information so that we could improve.We also held specific focus groups, announcing them three weeks in advance so that people could participate. All of this has been compiled and included in the reports that were presented yesterday at the conference.”
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“We don’t want there to be any doubt that we are ready to talk with our members and our friends,” she points out.
When asked about the presidential election and reports of party endorsements, Ms. Xanthou states that no decision has yet been made regarding support for any particular party.
“I think it’s their hope that they’ll be able to. Any interventions or, in any case, overtures made to party leaders have been met with the response that, for now, we will proceed with our own elections, as is customary, and because this is the protocol, we will be in contact with the leaders of both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties, so that they can meet our new leadership team and the executive secretariat, and so that we can exchange views.”
When asked why no Turkish Cypriot was elected to the leadership of VOLT, Ms. Xanthou stated that there were no candidates, and this is something that will be discussed.
“This is one of the issues we need to address because it seems that the focus primarily on the Greek Cypriot community has created some problems. Since we are a social party and will remain so, we must address these issues so that we can once again broaden our outreach to the Turkish Cypriot community.”
Responding to a question about the number of members who turned out to vote, Ms. Xanthou expressed satisfaction, given that this was a convention focused on electoral procedures and a review of the party’s performance.
“Constitutional amendments will be made because various problems have been identified. The initial idea was to hold it simultaneously. But there were simply too many issues that needed to be discussed in depth.So we chose to separate it, and there will be a separate constitutional convention. The goal is, if possible, to have it by December; otherwise, we’re looking at January. But the preparatory work has already begun.”
When asked if there are any parties they are aligned with as we head toward the presidential election, Ms. Xanthou replied:
“Some may be in a hurry, but the presidential election is in February 2028. So we believe that first, once they’ve been identified, our assessment has identified our weaknesses and the problems that prevented us from entering the House of Representatives. The logical and correct course of action—for any presidential candidate who wants our support—is for us, as an organization, to ensure that we are able to respond.”
In response to a question about whether the Sandy case ultimately influenced the votes received by Volt, Ms. Xanthou answered in the affirmative, noting that Makarios Drousiotis did not participate in the election convention, though he was and remains a member.
“Our analysis has shown that this was also a factor—one of many. And that is why we must review our procedures to ensure that we do not run into issues or problems that lead to negative outcomes.”
“The possibility that Volt might end up fielding its own candidate hasn’t been ruled out; in order for us to make such a decision, we must first get our own house in order,” says Ms. Xanthou, while when asked if she would be personally interested, she answers in the negative.
