Green party calls on members to stop expressing public support for presidential candidates

Green Party head Charalambos Theopemptou on Saturday called on party members to refrain from expressing public support of any of the presidential candidates, as a spat continued over those who had expressed support for specific candidates.

Theopemptou said that voting within the party had not yielded a result on which candidate to support in the upcoming elections.

In November,  party member Efi Xanthou’s decision to actively support Andreas Mavroyiannis’ candidacy in the presidential elections had prompted in-house problems after a colleague filed a complaint against her.

Flanked by executives of the party, Theopemptou held a press conference on the matter, raising the issue of “respecting the collectiveness and unity of the party.”

He added: “Unfortunately, it has been observed that a small number of executives have chosen to make public appearances and/or join election staffs of candidates, despite the fact that collectively the party decided not to proceed with supporting a specific candidate.”

Commenting on the party election process last September, Theopemptou said that none of the candidates secured the 60 per cent majority required by the Green party to receive their support.

Theopemptou said: “The Green party does not emphatically once again support a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.”

He added that a vast majority of the party members and executive chose to not publicly express themselves in favour of any candidate, despite having their own preferences.

The Green party has left support of a presidential candidate up to individuals and is not supporting a particular candidate.

Xanthou, along with Green’s MP Alexandra Attalidou have publicly announced their support for Mavroyiannis in next February’s elections.

“There is a difference between supporting a candidate and being an active member of their campaign group,” Theopemtou had said at the time.

It appears the issue with Xanthou lies in the latter – she is actively campaigning for Mavroyiannis.