Dimitris Souglis, a member of the House of Representatives for Direct Democracy and a former journalist, denounces the cliques, factions, and vested interests of the major parties in the House of Representatives. Appearing as a guest on the “Alpha Summer” show, he cited as an example the right granted by the Constitution to every member of Parliament to run for the Speakership, and the deals ultimately struck among the major parties during the election process.
Mr. Souglis expressed his gratitude to all those who honored him with their vote and pledged not to disappoint them, but he urged them to remember that the powers of a member of Parliament are limited compared to the authority of the President of the Republic.
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He even sent a message to citizens facing property foreclosures, assuring them that he had not forgotten them, and responded to rumors that someone had paid off his own loan. At the same time, he complained that the political parties had received no information regarding the appointment of the House of Representatives’ counsel in the proceedings before the Supreme Court concerning the President of the Republic’s referral of the relevant law. He pointed to the Speaker of the House and spoke of “chaos” and a very good proposal submitted by AKEL and the Greens.
When asked about his relationship with the leader of Direct Democracy, Fidias Panagiotou, he described it as very good, while admitting that their disagreements are intense and heated, yet they always lead to the best solution—something he considers healthy. Speaking about the 26-year-old Member of the European Parliament, he said that he is a good listener and very intelligent, while noting that his success in the European elections “was the wake-up call we all needed to shake up the old-guard political establishment”.
Mr. Souglis said that during the summer recess, he and his parliamentary aide prepared more than 30 legislative proposals to be submitted in September, while he will also push for the resubmission of very good proposals that have been “abandoned” by parties that failed to win re-election to Parliament.
When asked if he intends to leave Direct Democracy, he reiterated that his terms with DIKO and ELAM were not in parliamentary or high-level positions.
