Prominent Nicosia lawyer declares candidacy for 2023 elections

Prominent Nicosia lawyer Achilleas Demetriades officially announced his candidacy for the 2023 presidential elections, his message focusing on fighting corruption, a fresh start, and the Cyprus problem.

“I want to clear our country from corruption. I want to give it prospects, looking forward to 2035. I want to solve the Cyprus problem because the solution is in our interest,” he said, speaking at the Hilton Hotel in the capital.

So far Disy leader Averof Neophytou has declared his candidacy amid widespread speculation over fellow party member and former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides’ intentions. Also in the running is former Minister of Communications & Works (1978-80) Marios Eliades.

Demetriades’ likely bid as an independent candidate – albeit any successful run would require support from established parties – has excited some political commentators who see his candidacy as a breath of fresh air.

At the Hilton, Demetriades focused his speech on a vision for Cyprus in 2035: “A Republic free of today’s deadlocks, free of corruption, the lack of meritocracy and the absence of credibility,” as he put it.

“We do not deserve this Cyprus, this is not the Cyprus we want for our children,” he underlined, pointing out at the same time the “collapse of the game with East Med, the danger of losing Varosha and Cyprus being led onto the rocks of division,” he said.

Demetriades also emphasised his belief in the people of Cyprus, their tenacity, and their desire for progress. Cyprus, he recalled, “has achieved a lot under difficult circumstances. It can do so again now, with hope, clear positions, feasible proposals which can be implemented”.

On Monday he outlined the three pillars of his campaign – Honest State, Cyprus 2035 and a Cyprus Solution is in our Interest – as he expressed the conviction that “it is up to us to embark on a gradual change to reunite our island, modernise our state and our institutions and become an open, modern, European state with balanced growth which will benefit all people”.

Demetriades on Sunday announced his resignation as president of the human rights committee of the Cyprus Bar Association, citing a possible conflict of interest; adding that “my resignation sends the message that the independence of the institutions should be safeguarded”.

Writing in the Cyprus Mail over the weekend, Demetriades stated that many reputable international bodies have recorded the plunge in corruption indicators for Cyprus.

“This negative course relates to the practices of the outgoing government which have tainted our country’s reputation and the dignity of its people. Cyprus does not deserve this. This reality has to change,” he wrote.

Demetriades’ is known as a human rights lawyer, particularly following his landmark victory in the property case of displaced Kyrenian Titina Loizides v Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights – the application having been filed in 1989.

“I believe that it is largely thanks to his perseverance and unstinting efforts that this positive decision has been achieved,” Loizidou said in 1996.