Only Averof Neophytou has what it takes to handle any future talks on Cyprus, his election campaign team asserted Monday, while lambasting main rival Nikos Christodoulides for mixed messaging.

In a statement, presidential candidate Neophytou’s spokesperson Georgia Constantinou-Panayiotou said only the Disy leader has clear-cut views on the Cyprus issue.

“Daily, the Cypriot people witness an unprecedented political insincerity and deliberate confusion,” the statement read.

“Mr Christodoulides resigned as foreign minister of the Anastasiades-Disy government, only to head a discordant consortium of parties who until recently, and repeatedly, called his [i.e. Christodoulides’] policies, and President Anastasiades’ policies, a failure.”

And in another dig at Christodoulides, the Neophytou camp added: “Long-standing party positions have been set aside, political ethics have evaporated, the sole objective being to secure and wield power. With wheeling-and-dealing which remains secret…”

The statement went on to wonder how politicians like Edek’s Marinos Sizopoulos, Diko’s Nicolas Papadopoulos, and Solidarity’s Eleni Theocharous can support someone – meaning Christodoulides – who claims to agree with the bizonal, bicommunal federation model for a settlement.

“What line will they pursue? For or against the bizonal, bicommunal federation? For or against the Guterres framework?”

The ‘Guterres Framework’ is a group of proposals orally presented by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the Crans-Montana summit on Cyprus in June-July 2017.

“On the opposite end stands Averof Neophytou and the Democratic Rally (Disy), with steadfast positions over time and with political clarity. And with a proposal for escaping the impasse.”

Polls consistently show Christodoulides in the lead for this year’s presidential elections, scheduled for early February.

Talks for a settlement on Cyprus have been on hold since the 2017 conference in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.