MEP and leader of “Direct Democracy” Fidias Panagiotou appeared on the “Alpha News” program, visibly furious with President of the Republic Nicos Christodoulides, accusing him of running an election campaign and failing to address the serious problems facing citizens, such as high electricity prices.
As Mr. Panagiotou stated, for weeks now he has been requesting a meeting at the Presidential Palace in his capacity as leader of a parliamentary party to present the much-discussed 12-page technical study he has prepared, outlining waysto reduce the price of electricity, to which he has not yet received a response from Nikos Christodoulides.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“Is it possible for me to be here and ask for a meeting with the President? All day, every day, he goes to so many events. Instead of campaigning, he should sit down and look at the people’s problems. We have proposals; we have people who can help with this. There are things the government can do to lower energy costs.”
At the same time, he expressed his intention to make the technocratic team that staffs the “Direct Democracy” on energy issues—a team of 2–3 people—even though they wish to remain anonymous.
“If the President wants to ask us and borrow them, why not? It seems that the Ministry’s technocrats are having trouble.”
Not even Energy Minister Michalis Damianos escaped Mr. Panagiotou’s “criticism”; he accused the minister on several occasions of “he’s stringing us along” and that he’s trying to paint a picture that differs from reality regarding the accuracy of the government’s energy plans.
“We asked the President for a meeting, and instead of responding to us, he had the Minister respond on his behalf. We’ve already met with the Minister; if we’d wanted to ask the Minister, we would have gone to him. The Minister himself said publicly that the situation has reached a breaking point, yet in his response to us, it’s as if everything is running smoothly, everything is rosy, and everything is on track.”
The Presidential Election Process
Mr. Panayiotou, however, states that he is open to discussions with all parties and all candidates regarding the 2028 Presidential Election. He also acknowledges the regulatory role of “Direct Democracy” party in the House of Representatives, noting that it has often “tipped the scales to the right or to the left” during legislative votes.
“We are open to supporting someone from DISY and to supporting the incumbent President, Christodoulides—the funny thing is that he hasn’t even announced his candidacy yet, but we all know—given the things he’s been doing—that he began his campaign quite some time ago. Either Mr. Christodoulides, or we could find a good candidate to support together with AKEL and the Left, or even field our own candidate. It’s still early, and we want to focus on the people’s problems.”
When asked about John Christodoulou’s candidacy, he replied that all possibilities are open and dismissed reports suggesting that he had recommended the businessman to AKEL, saying that “We hadn’t gotten to the point of discussing names, whether theirs or ours.
“This discussion hasn’t reached the stage of discussing names yet.”
“We’re open to all proposals and we’ll see,” was all that Fidias Panayiotou would say regarding DISY nomination contender Averof Neophytou.
His Honeymoon
The Member of the European Parliament offered his own explanation for why he accepted the honeymoon trip he took with his wife as a gift from a friend. As he explained, he had given free lectures to the staff at his friend’s company on the use of social media.
“Thousands of people came, and I trained them; and since I didn’t charge him any money, he felt he wanted to give me a trip as a gift. The exchange was roughly of equal value—it wasn’t really an exchange; it was just friendly…”
A Party in Europe, Not in the European Parliament
Mr. Panayiotou also revealed a change in strategy regarding his much-publicized effort to lead a party within the European Parliament, describing the endeavor as “very difficult.” At the same time, he announced that he intends to proceed with the establishment and operation of a European party modeled after Volt, with members from seven countries, as required by the relevant European regulations. In fact, this coming September, he intends to submit the relevant applications, with the initial goal of securing the party’s representation in national parliaments.
