Pressure in critical moments reveals character—and it also reveals the caliber of political leaders. And at this very moment, DISY has adopted the most toxic and extreme rhetoric

Last week, the Cypriot public was informed by the DISY MP and Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee that AKEL lies outside the democratic spectrum. This was neither a slip of the tongue nor an unfortunate expression born of the intensity of political debate. Because when her colleague Christos Christofides asked her to retract her statement, she not only refused but also doubled down on her position.

Admittedly, the whole thing was a revelation—of a politician whom, until yesterday, we considered to be guided by a certain seriousness and moderation. But it was also a revelation of how some in DISY perceive democracy—a democracy that silences anyone who dares to state the obvious. To hold accountable those who represent the institutions. And to criticize them when they fail to rise to the occasion, as democracy, after all, requires.

“They decided on their own, overnight, to dismantle all the institutions of this state,” said Ms. Tsiridou when she decided to classify AKEL as a non-democratic party. She seems to believe that she and her party not only represent the whole of society, but are also in a position to label anyone as being inside or outside the democratic spectrum as it suits them. It seems to have escaped her notice that the entire society witnessed this complete short-circuit. With both the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General admitting their inability to do their jobs at this critical moment for the country’s credibility, This naturally raised the following reasonable question: if they cannot do the job for which they are handsomely paid, then why do they continue to hold these positions?

Except that the problem of the Savvidis-Aggelidis conflict was not identified solely by AKEL, which, according to Onoufrios Koulas, is thinking only of the presidential elections on the 28th. The irony in all this is that DIKO MP Chrysis Pantelidis saw it coming as well. They had been working closely with him until just yesterday and were discussing forming an alliance with his party for the 2028 presidential election. Citizens also saw it when the Attorney General was provocatively hanging out at bouzouki clubs with the very person he is supposed to be investigating. The problem was also recognized by respected legal experts who were not members of AKEL.

It is to safeguard this institution that, for days now, legal circles have been trying to untangle the knot of who will carry out the work of the prosecutor’s office. Not only because, in their letter, the two essentially admitted to a lack of objectivity and impartiality. But also because the Prosecutors’ Council refused to conduct any evaluation whatsoever. Instead, it forwarded the report as is to the Cabinet and the police. And watching the government, in turn, seek out criminal investigators who would have no conflict of interest to handle the findings.

At critical moments, everyone’s seriousness is put to the test. But character is also revealed. And it wasn’t just Fotini Tsiridou’s behavior that was revealing. We heard DISY Vice President Savia Orfanidou, who, when cornered, “condemned” AKEL for “killing 13 people.” And we heard from the head of DISY’s shadow cabinet, Michalis Ioannidis—who just days earlier had told us that all of Cyprus is DISY—pointing the finger at those who see resignation as the only way forward. He characterized them as a “noisy minority” and a “clique.”

DISY has every right to fully support Nicos Anastasiades. But we deserve better than the exploitation of Mari. Because throughout all this, he has demonstrated not only a poverty of political discourse but also a dangerous arrogance. He seems to have misinterpreted the results of the parliamentary elections. Believing that he now represents all of Cyprus. The party that came in first with a narrative of seriousness—the party that presented itself as the scourge of populism—has, in this crisis that demands nothing but seriousness, the most toxic and extreme elements for public discourse and our democracy.

P.S. A shining exception to all this is the intervention by parliamentary representatives Dimitris Dimitriou and Michalis Sophocleous, who both rose to the occasion.