Dipa to consult all other parties except Elam over presidential candidate

By Andreas Pavlou

Leader of Dipa, Marios Garoyian said on Monday the party will begin negotiations with all other Cyprus parties except Elam in March over backing for a candidate for the 2023 presidential elections.

Dipa, a centrist party founded in 2018 by Garoyian after his split from Diko, held its Electoral Congress on Sunday, during which Garoyian suggested a common presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential elections “who guarantees the implementation of a common governance programme”.

Garoyian said Dipa will put forward its proposal for a national unity government, considering the proposal ‘’necessary and realistic’’.

He added that he does not yet have anyone in mind to lead his proposed ‘national unit government’, saying: ‘’If there is no conclusion to this proposal, then we will see how we will proceed with the consultations’’.

During the congress on Sunday, he told delegates “together we can win tomorrow,” describing the presidential elections as a ‘’decisive milestone’’, and a chance to “push Cyprus into a new era”.

Garoyian said Dipa was ready to move forward “with new ideas and new faces. With the courage and boldness that our times and our people demand to give radical but also realistic solutions”.

He stressed that ‘’only one solution is possible, a bizonal, bicommunal federation within the parameters of the United Nations.

“Any other discussions or novel ideas outside these parameters, just offer pretexts for the Turkish side to promote the two-state solution,” he said.