Emphasizing the need to avoid a deeper rift within DISY, the former President of the Republic of Cyprus launched a series of consultations and meetings ahead of the party’s internal elections to determine who will receive the nomination for 2028.
According to information from “Alpha on Sunday” just 24 hours ago, Nikos Anastasiades and Giorgos Pamporidis met, with the former president also reaching out to Averof Neophytou. He conveyed to both that there is no room for factionalism or personal agendas. In fact, he is said to have cited his 2003 presidential campaign as an example—when the party found itself once again divided against him— —despite the internal strife—he found a way to bring back party officials and members, smoothing over the rifts. But also the stance he took in 2008 when he nominated Giannakis Kasoulides as the candidate rather than himself, recognizing the difficulties he would face in getting elected. According to the same sources, he also conveyed this to Anita Dimitriou during a phone conversation they had, in which he assured her that her withdrawal was the best decision given the current situation within DISY.
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All this is happening at a time when party officials have already decided which candidate they will support to lead the party in the presidential race—and some have even made their positions public. On the other hand, there is also a prevailing view among the party’s leadership that they should not take a position in support of either candidate. In addition to Anastasiades’s contacts, neither Haris Georgiadis nor Ionas Nikolaou remained, urging them not to proceed with their bids for the nomination.
AKEL still has a long way to go before it can begin discussing which candidate to support in the presidential election. This was reiterated once again by the party’s General Secretary.
“For us, the priority is engaging in contacts and discussions with other political forces and organized groups that disagree with government policies and desire progressive change. The goal of these contacts and discussions is to find common ground for cooperation ahead of the elections. In this way, we will strengthen our chances of winning the elections and promote progressive change.”
Nikolas Papadopoulos commented on “25 Minutes” regarding Anita Dimitriou’s withdrawal from the race for the presidential nomination on the 28th. He noted that the situation has changed, as his party has already begun internal discussions. These processes are expected to be completed by the end of the year, with the Democratic Party turning to its collective bodies for final decisions early next year. All possibilities remain open.
“Since we are part of Nikos Christodoulides’s coalition government, I believe that—out of both respect and courtesy—the first person we should ask to share his own thoughts and intentions —not whether he will be a candidate, as I take it for granted that Nikos Christodoulides will be a candidate —so that we can thoroughly discuss this within the party’s collective bodies before making our own decisions.”
Expressing the belief that, to a large extent, DIKO will determine the outcome of the upcoming presidential election.
Watch the report by Nasia Ioannou:
