D-day for Disy’s leadership contenders

House president Annita Demetriou may throw her hat in the running for Disy’s upcoming leadership elections, it emerged on Monday as the deadline for submitting candidacies edged ever closer.

Disy MP Nicos Tornaritis told Sigma that Demetriou had called him earlier on Monday morning, expressing her interest in running for the party’s leadership elections.

All candidates are expected to submit 100 signatures supporting their bid by Tuesday.

Politis reported that Demetriou would only run if current party leader Averof Neophytou withdraws his candidacy.

Meanwhile, Harris Georgiades, Disy’s current deputy leader and also in the running for party leader, stated during a TV show on Alpha that he believed Neophytou simply should not be running for the top post.

“We no longer live in the era of great old leaders, not in Cyprus, not in Greece, or internationally,” he said.

Neophytou could have made things easier and not stood for re-election and simply stood by the side of Disy’s new leadership, in a bid to keep the party’s unity cemented, Georgiades added.

Following the presidential election results, there needs to be a new leadership, he stressed.

In the meantime, the party issued its own statement over the ongoing discussion on party write-off’s. The topic featured heavily when Disy MP Demetris Demetriou announced his candidacy for the party’s top post, saying this was not a practice that befitted Disy’s ideals.

President-elect and former Disy member, Nikos Christodoulides was one of the major public dismissals after he submitted his candidacy for the presidential elections in opposition to Nephytou. Disy’s statement on Monday stressed “Christodoulides chose to place himself outside of the party after he decided to operate outside the statutes of Disy.”

Bringing Christodoulides back to the party without him even asking for it, sends out the message that “dissident behaviour in the party is tolerated, however serious it might be.”

The party’s statement also called on its members to avoid a discourse that reignites the divisive climate of Disy, and instead focus on the future. It stressed Disy is not a party of write-off’s and its arms were open to anyone, irrespective of who they voted for in the first round.

Former Health Minister Giorgos Pamborides had announced his interest in running for Disy’s leadership post last week, but eventually decided against. He said the way the elections were to be carried out only served to help Neophytou, as it gave other candidates very little time to prepare and contact other Disy members.