Three candidates stepping down in favour of a fourth, another coming up in the outside lane foiling their plans and a further alienated member dismissed for not meeting the criteria but nevertheless “more than welcome”, set the scene for a long and unpredictable race to the top post of Edek.

All agree that the show simply must go on, however the socialists are having trouble agreeing on candidates, let alone entering their names in the run to the presidency of the party founded in 1969 by Vassos Lyssarides, who was known for his militant demeanor, strong opinions and patriotic views.

Current leader Marinos Sizopoulos announced last month that he would not be running for re-election, plunging the party into a scramble to find suitable candidates for the upcoming elections.

As the June 1 congress is getting closer, efforts to find a single candidate of general acceptance were dashed on Tuesday.

Three candidates – Morfakis Solomonides, Marios Hannides and Elias Myrianthous – withdrew their names in favour of Edek’s Limassol district leader Nikos Anastasiou.

As they took a photograph holding hands to send a message of unity, Diomides Diomidous crept up on them, announcing his intention to run for deputy president and – why not? – president of the party.

Diomidous said of his decision that he wanted “the members of Edek to express themselves in a democratic manner in the ballot for the election of their new president.”

“These are not procedures,” he said, referring to the three candidates stepping down to support a fourth, adding that he would now await a new electoral procedure to be announced by the party’s central committee.

He explained that the three former candidates had said so much about the future of the party and then decided behind closed doors that they were not ready to run and had to appoint someone else to represent them.

“This is not transparency,” Diomidous pointed out.

If Diomidous does not change his mind, elections will be unavoidable.

Whoever is elected will be expected to bring back the alienated members, who had distanced themselves from the party – “each for their own reasons”, according to spokesman Giorgos Georgiou – during Sizopoulos’ tenure.

Even Kostis Efstathiou – now a single-socialist MP whose candidacy for the presidency had been recently thrown out – will be welcome to return.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Georgiou wondered.

Edek’s central committee now has to convene and reopen the process, setting a date for candidacies to be submitted and scheduling the electoral congress.

Who else will jump on or off the bandwagon is yet to be seen.