The Cyprus issue becomes a focal point of Averof’s announcement—Pindarou faces a new reality. The 2028 presidential race is heating up
Averof Neophytou’s statement was not just another “shot” in the already premature debate over the 2028 presidential election. It was, in essence, a pre-announcement of his intention to run for the presidency again, either through the party procedures within DISY or as an independent candidate. In other words, by any means necessary.
“If this weekend is all gloom and doom, a dead end, and not a leaf stirs, Averof will be a candidate.” With this telling remark, the former DISY president directly linked his decision to the course of the Cyprus issue.
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Except that the discussion is no longer simply about a possible comeback. It concerns a certain candidacy that appears to want to stand on its own two feet, even outside of party procedures.
A Candidacy Centered on the Cyprus Issue
Averof has long chosen to keep the Cyprus issue at the center of his political positions as a matter of the utmost importance for the future of the Cypriot people, often speaking of a “last chance”—one that, if we do not seize it, may prove to be our undoing and lead to two separate states.
He does not present his candidacy as the result of personal political ambition. He links it to Cyprus’s most pressing political issue and to whether or not there will be substantial progress toward a solution.
At the same time, Averof had left open the possibility of supporting Nicos Christodoulides in the event of a strategic agreement on the Cyprus issue. He now appears so certain of the stalemate that he states even the slightest opening would be enough for him to stand, if only for a little while longer, by the side of the President of the Republic.
He’s making things difficult for DISY
Now the hard part begins. Until recently, the discussion within DISY centered mainly on who would vie for the party’s nomination.
Three names are on the table: party president Annita Dimitriou, Giorgos Pamporidis, and Averof Neophytou. Now, however, the question has changed. What if Averof runs as an independent candidate outside the DISY process?
Averof Neophytou is passing the buck to DISY to decide whether and how it will respond to his candidacy. Will DISY support Averof’s candidacy? Will Anita Dimitriou clear the way for him by withdrawing her name from the list of candidates? A completely different scenario is now unfolding, because it is one thing for someone to vie for a party’s nomination and quite another to declare themselves a candidate and wait for the party to decide whether to back them.
Is Averof just going through the motions?
The question is whether Averoff’s candidacy might ultimately serve as an attempt to circumvent internal party procedures. Even though this would be an entirely democratic process, it would spare the party from a grueling process that could likely lead to renewed introversion and division among its members.
Averoff himself seems to feel no need to wait for the decision of the Alarm Party members. He has chosen to pursue a different role as a candidate—one who is entering the race because he believes the Cyprus issue is at an extremely critical juncture.
He is called upon to decide
Averof Neophytou has now made his move, and DISY is forced to make its own. Will Averof’s candidacy develop into a purely independent effort, or will there be coordination within DISY?
The only certainty is that the landscape of the 2028 presidential election is no longer the same. Because even if we have both Averof and Anita as candidates in the first round of the presidential election, it is by no means certain that both will advance to the second round.
