One of four independent presidential candidates pulls out of alliance

One of the four independent presidential contenders announced on Tuesday he has dropped out of talks aimed at putting forward a common candidate.

Christodoulos Protopapas said he was withdrawing from the effort to forge an alliance among the four independents because too much time had elapsed with no result in sight.

Despite the “good climate” in the deliberations to find a common candidate, the talks had dragged out “without any light apparent at the end of the tunnel.”

During this time, Protopapas said, in order not to undermine the common effort he had deliberately kept a low profile and even cancelled a number of planned electioneering activities.

Protopapas said he has informed the three other independent candidates of his decision to pull out.

He wished them all the best, adding that he would keep a close eye on their initiative.

The three other independents are Marios Eliades, Achilleas Demetriades and Constantinos Christofides.

For weeks they have been conducting parleys on how to join forces, with a view to garnering enough support to push their alliance into the runoff of the February 2023 elections.

The independents are banking on the large pool of potential votes – the segment of the population not aligned with any of the traditional parties, as well as first-time voters.

In late September, Christofides told the Cyprus Mail that whereas the four did not set a deadline for coming to an agreement, for practical reasons the matter could not be left to drag on past October.