Another resignation has been announced within the Democratic Alarm party, amid intense internal turmoil. This time, Dr. Andrea Theologou Manoli, spokesperson for NEDISY and former parliamentary candidate.
According to a letter she sent to the President of DISY, Anita Dimitriou, Ms. Theologou Manoli lashes out at Haris Georgiadis in response to his public statement regarding “blatant political blackmail.”
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The post reads as follows
Today I am submitting my resignation from the position of Special Advisor to the President of the Democratic Rally on Rule of Law issues.
It was not an easy decision. For me, however, it was a decision based on conscience and political integrity.
Below, I reproduce verbatim the letter I sent to the President of the Democratic Rally, Ms. Anita Dimitriou, in which I explain in detail the reasons for my decision.
I am not offering my resignation to anyone. I am resigning.
The letter follows verbatim:
Dear Chairwoman,
It is with genuine sadness that I have been following the events unfolding in our party over the past few days and, in particular, today’s public statement by Mr. Haris Georgiadis.
First and foremost, I would like to express my respect for you. You have repeatedly and clearly stated that your decision not to seek the nomination was your own political decision, guided by the unity of the Democratic Alarm, and that there was neither pressure nor coercion.
That is precisely why I find it particularly troubling that today a leading member of the party is essentially choosing to challenge your own public stance by speaking of “blatant political blackmail.”
Everyone has the inalienable right to support the candidate of their choice. That is the essence of democracy, and that is what we must all protect.
However, political preference is one thing, and it is quite another to declare in advance that, if the members of the Democratic Alarm choose a specific candidate, a party official will not respect that choice politically and will not participate in the faction’s campaign.
This is all the more true when this position is not expressed in an internal discussion but is deliberately made public while the democratic process itself is still underway.
This, in my political judgment, does not serve unity. It serves introversion.
It does not heal the wounds. It deepens them and, above all, sends an extremely problematic message to our members: that their choice is respected only if it coincides with the choice of certain party officials.
True political blackmail is not saying, “I will participate in the democratic process.” Political blackmail is telling tens of thousands of members of a political faction in advance: “If you choose him, I will not support your choice.”
I am also particularly struck by Mr. Georgiadis’s reference to the “highly prestigious position” of President of the “Glafkos Clerides” Institute.
I fully agree that this is a highly prestigious position.
Precisely for this reason, however, I believe it demands even greater level-headedness, institutional responsibility, and respect for the democratic will of the members of the political faction founded by Glafkos Clerides.
And because words matter, it is one thing to resign from a position and quite another to place your resignation at someone’s disposal.
If someone truly believes that, as a matter of principle, they cannot continue to serve in an institutional role, then there is only one clear and honorable political course of action: to resign. They do not shift the responsibility for the decision onto someone else, nor do they leave open the possibility of being asked to stay.
When we invoke principles, they must first and foremost bind us personally, and that is precisely what I choose to do today.
I do not write these lines lightly.
I belong to a generation of people who entered politics not because we were expecting a position, a title, or personal gain. We entered because we believed in a political movement, in its principles, and in its vision.
Personally, I have devoted my time, professional opportunities, personal sacrifices, and a significant part of my life to this effort, without asking for anything in return and without ever expecting my party to owe me anything.
That is why it hurts even more to see a political faction that should be discussing the Cyprus of tomorrow getting bogged down once again in personal strategies, ultimatums, mutual backstabbing, and introversion.
Young people who have given so much without receiving anything in return do not walk away because they lost a personal battle. They walk away when they feel that the principles they were called upon to serve are being applied selectively.
Today, I feel that these practices are pushing people like me toward the door.
For this reason, and because it would be inconsistent for me to demand clean political actions from others without acting accordingly myself, I am today submitting my resignation from the position you entrusted to me as Special Advisor on Rule of Law issues.
I am not “offering my resignation to you.”
I am resigning.
I do so with the utmost respect for you personally and without questioning, even for a moment, your own intentions and your efforts to keep the party united.
I am doing so, however, because I believe there are moments when silence ceases to be a matter of responsibility and becomes a form of tolerance.
I will remain faithful to the principles with which I grew up politically: democracy, the Hellenic identity of Cyprus, a European orientation, the rule of law, meritocracy, and respect for the free will of our members. Moreover, I am the granddaughter of an EOKA fighter and a 1974 LOAK casualty, and my conscience and upbringing do not allow me to hide.
That is why, whoever the members of the Democratic Alarm choose through a fair and democratic process, their choice must be respected.
Because no individual is greater than the party, and no office is more important than the dignity with which one chooses to engage in politics.
