Anastasiades refuses to be drawn on support for election candidate  

President Nicos Anastasiades said he would not comment on the presidential elections during his visit to Paphos on Thursday, following sharp media speculation on the matter.

He said that today is Paphos’ day and that he is there to inaugurate important works and now is not the time to get involved in the elections, he told reporters.

The president’s comments come after Disy party leader and presidential candidate Averof Neophytou called on Anastasiades to dispel any doubts over whom he supported in the elections.

Polls released last week by CyBC reaffirmed that former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides looks set to wipe the floor with his rival in the February elections.

Earlier on Thursday, government spokesperson Marios Pelekanos told reporters that the council of ministers on Wednesday had briefly discussed the matter – saying that Anastasiades again reiterated his support for Neophytou.

That follows on from a report earlier in the week by Politis that some ministers have also been irked by the president’s stance during the election.

Pelekanos referred to a series of previous statements made by the president where this support was clearly stated, adding that he intends to answer the issues raised in due course.

There has been sharp media speculation over the internal Disy rift following Neophytou’s comments during a Sigma debate on Monday night.

Neophytou was spurred on when the presenter asked him about comments he made last Thursday – in which he said that: “We’re all aware that that my candidacy is faced with an elephant in the room, which is named Nikos Anastasiades.”

“Do you feel that Nikos Anastasiades is undermining your candidacy?” the presenter asked.

The presenter also prefaced the question by referring to previous comments made by the president, in which he said that he would have influence over whomever of the three main candidates win the election as they are all previous colleagues.

Neophytou replied: “The person with the responsibility to clear this up is no one else other than the president.”