Demetriou enters Disy’s leadership race

Disy’s party spokesman Demetris Demetriou has announced his candidacy as leader of the party going up against incumbent Averof Neophytou, and vice-president Harris Georgiades.

The battle for the party leadership will take place on March 11.

Demetriou announced his move on Wednesday, speaking about the necessity for a fresh start for the party, which reached near-crisis point during the presidential elections.

Neophytou lost in the first round on February 5. This was followed by infighting over who to support in the run-off, with some members of the party split between former Disy member and president-elect Nikos Christodoulides and the loser last Sunday, Akel-backed Andreas Mavroyiannis.

In his statement on Wednesday, Demetriou said Disy was “at the most critical turning point in its history”.

“It is our responsibility to decide what its next day will bring. Are we going to remain stagnant, locked in arguments and personal strategies, concerning yesterday, or are we going to look forward, making a new beginning,” he said.

“I firmly believe that what the Democratic Rally needs today is a total restart.”

Demetriou said he had been serving the party since his schooldays and student days and as an MP he fights daily battles both for the party and the country.

His moral compass, he said includes the values of freedom, justice and transparency “but above all the reunification of our homeland”.

Georgiades, when he announced on Tuesday, said the party’s defeat in the presidential elections and everything that followed was the cause of sadness and concern.

“Instead of a sober review and a unifying approach, sharp divisions and interventions were chosen, which put our party at risk of splitting,” he said.

He added he was running, not out of personal ambition but to lead the efforts to give Disy the restructure it needs.

The moves from high-profile members of the party comes after current Disy leader Averof Neophytou announced elections for the party’s top post will take place on March 11, a matter of party procedure following defeat in a presidential election. At the time he announced the date, Neophytou put his own name forward for the position.

But members of Disy have already hit back about the timing of the vote. Interior Minister Nicos Nouris has sent a letter to Neophytou disagreeing with the election date, saying there has yet to be a broad discussion in the party over the election results and Disy’s evident divisions, apparent with the candidacy and subsequent presidential election of Christodoulides.

Though it has been rumoured Nouris would also try to run for Disy’s top post, he refuted the claims in a statement published on Tuesday.

Last week, Demetriou told reporters he too disagreed with the speed with which Neophytou had announced the in-party election date, saying a longer reflection time was needed for the party.

Nonetheless, the date was ratified during Monday night’s political bureau meeting.

Candidacies for Disy leader must be officially submitted on February 21 with 100 signatures from party backers, 10 of which must be from each district. The candidacies will be inspected a day earlier on February 20, to assess whether all criteria have been met.

Those eligible to vote are people who have been registered in the party since at least December 10.

Asked to comment on Wednesday, Neophytou said: “This is a democracy. The Democratic Rally introduced democratic procedures. I won’t criticise anyone and they have every right. My [presidential] candidacy was not personal, it was collective. Collective decisions were made for me to be a candidate.”

He added that the thousands of members of the party would judge who was best to be the next leader.

Responding to a question about Nouris, he said he has “absolute respect” for him and that the minister remained a close partner and friend, but he believes the best accountability will come with a quick election. “Everyone will judge us [there] for our actions, omissions, our positives and our negatives,” he added.