Former MEP Demetris Papadakis, former MP Costis Efstathiou and other senior figures expelled from the Movement for Social Democracy (Edek) in recent years will attend the party's statutory congress on Sunday, the first major milestone for the new leadership before the electoral congress in December. The congress, which will vote on changes to the party's statutes, takes place on Sunday 25 October at 10am at the Journalists' Union building in Nicosia. Party sources expect the overwhelming majority of expelled former members, including former members of the Political Bureau, to attend.
The lifting of the expulsions
The returns follow the unconditional lifting of all expulsions, which party president Sofia Christodoulou Makri has presented as the new leadership's first political decision. She said on Tuesday that hundreds of expelled members have already returned to the membership register. Those close to the president are optimistic and say efforts are continuing, as it is not only well-known figures who want to come back. Some, they say, want to see first how the process unfolds. They insist the invitation carries no conditions and that anyone who turns up on Sunday is supporting the effort to rebuild the party. Everyone on the register is entitled to take part.
What changes in the statutes
The proposed changes, which the leadership made public on Tuesday, aim to strengthen the party's collective bodies and the participation of its members. Among other things, the period a new member must wait before gaining the right to vote and stand in internal elections falls from six months to one. Members aged 18–35 are guaranteed 20% of seats on the Central Committee, 15% on district committees and at least 15% of places on electoral lists.
The congress will also consider 13 amendments tabled by members. They include running an independent candidate for the presidency of the Republic, a mandatory contribution from elected and appointed officials, the sale of party property, term limits and the selection of parliamentary candidates through internal elections. Many of the proposals relate to the party's finances, which have been under severe strain since it lost €700,000 in state funding after dropping out of parliament.
The challenge from the "11"
The congress meets under the shadow of a dispute with 11 members of the Political Bureau who are associates of former party leader Marinos Sizopoulos. In two letters, dated 16 and 20 October, they accuse the president of bypassing the body, of dismissing permanent staff without approval and of failing to collect €100,000 in contributions owed by officials. They argue that the congress is invalid because the required procedures were not followed.
Christodoulou Makri responds that the congress was preceded by district and regional conferences at which every member could table amendments, and she has called on her critics to make their case before the membership. In her reply, she cites Article 20 of the party's statutes, under which the congress ranks above the Political Bureau, and reveals that one of the signatories told her he does not endorse the letter in its entirety.
The road to December
After Sunday, attention turns to the electoral congress in December, which will elect the party's bodies for the next five years, followed by a policy congress to update the party's positions. The forensic audit remains pending, with no auditing firm yet selected. According to the president, discussion of the 2028 presidential election will begin within the party's collective bodies only after the internal elections.
