According to our information, during the meeting DISY president Annita Demetriou informed DIKO president Nikolas Papadopoulos that the result of the parliamentary elections created a climate of euphoria within her party and a dominant trend among party officials and DISY voters for re‑claiming the presidency of the House. According to the same information, Mr Papadopoulos informed his counterpart that there is serious interest from DIKO for the presidency of the House, with himself as a candidate.
Climate of euphoria
Information from Politis indicates that the issue of the House presidency has not yet been placed before the collective bodies of DISY and no decision has been taken at leadership level. However, the position that the DISY president should seek the presidency of the House again constitutes the dominant trend.
Specifically, among party officials and voters there is a climate of euphoria following the ballot result. All consider that DISY and its president are the winners of the parliamentary elections. The reading of Sunday’s result by party officials and voters is that a major role was also played by Annita Demetriou’s successful presidency of the House over the past five years. They point out that this is widely recognised by society and note that this was reflected in a poll on the House presidency where Annita Demetriou was the most popular political figure.
The dominant trend among party officials is that DISY should proceed in an honest and clear manner, placing the good of the country above all. They stress that the party president should seek re‑election to the presidency without bargaining or other planning. The view is now openly expressed that Annita Demetriou should be a candidate for the presidency of the House until the end, regardless of the stance of the other parties. This climate is what Annita Demetriou conveyed to the DIKO president yesterday, stressing that the election result and the party base do not allow her not to be a candidate.
DIKO
Yesterday, DIKO’s Secretariat met to discuss the parliamentary election result and the upcoming political developments. Among the issues discussed was the question of the House presidency. Members of the collective body analysed the advantages and disadvantages of potential candidacies for the presidency of the House, mainly of DIKO, DISY and AKEL. They also examined various scenarios of possible alliances for the election of the Speaker, and it became apparent that the centrist party is not ruling anyone out.
The members of the Secretariat decided that the party should seek political support for the candidacy of Nikolas Papadopoulos and that it should approach both DISY and AKEL. Consequently, in the coming period DIKO will attempt to argue for the positive role that a possible presidency of Nikolas Papadopoulos could have in the House, for example the fair treatment of both left‑wing and right‑wing parties by a centrist politician. The party leader has already informed Annita Demetriou that he is under pressure for DIKO to turn towards seeking support from AKEL.
Open agenda
Until yesterday, AKEL had not dealt extensively with the issue of the process for electing the new Speaker of the House, however developments are creating pressure on the left‑wing party to accelerate internal procedures and take initiatives. The party’s Central Secretariat meets every morning and today it is expected to discuss the issue, also in light of yesterday’s contact between Nikolas Papadopoulos and Annita Demetriou.
Information from Politis indicates that AKEL will seek dialogue with all political forces, except DISY and ELAM. The left‑wing party will enter the dialogue with an open agenda and not with a specific proposal to support its own candidate. However, if it ultimately decides to contest the presidency of the House, priority will be given to the party’s Secretary‑General Stefanos Stefanou, although this will be decided at the level of the Political Bureau.
ELAM
At ELAM the dialogue on the issue of the House presidency has also not progressed. Yesterday the parliamentary group met for the first time and examined certain issues, such as the interest of its MPs in specific parliamentary committees. However, it did not focus particularly on the issue of the House presidency. The matter may be discussed today by the group. There appears, however, to be an initial thought of contesting the presidency of the House with an MP of the party, possibly not the party leader Christos Christou but another figure.
Although a party source told Politis that they will enter dialogue with other parties with an open agenda, yesterday ELAM spokesperson and MP Marios Pelekanos told CyBC that the party will contest the presidency of the House and will adopt a stance of abstention if Stefanos Stefanou and Annita Demetriou proceed to the second round.
ALMA
Today a joint meeting will be held between the transitional Executive Secretariat of the ALMA Movement and its parliamentary group, and it appears that the issue of the House presidency will be discussed. Information indicates that no decisions have been taken, however the Movement has already ruled out cooperation with ELAM as well as support for any candidacy of Annita Demetriou or Nikolas Papadopoulos. It also appears that abstention is not an option for the Movement when and if it favours the election of specific individuals, and it is not ruled out that it may support the candidacy of Stefanos Stefanou if this emerges as an option.
