Former Edek leader Marinoz Sizopoulos and former member of the European parliament Demetris Papadakis engaged in a heated argument on television on Friday, with the pair having been at loggerheads in recent years.

The pair appeared together on Sigma TV, with Papadakis saying Sizopoulos had “pressured” him to break the law “many times”, and going on to describe him as a “cowboy”.

Papadakis had been expelled over his refusal to honour a contract he had signed with the party stipulating that he pay part of his salary to the party. The Nicosia district court found in 2021 that the contract was illegal.

“I was under a lot of pressure to go against the law. The court ruled that these were illegal contracts,” he said

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In response, Sizopoulos pointed out that Papadakis had been expelled from the party in 2020, and that after that, he had “fought the party”.

“Demetris Papadakis has no right to be involved with Edek. He was kicked out. He is a person who fought the party. He no longer exists in Edek,” he said, before adding that Papadakis “wanted to appropriate €4,700 as rent” and “employed relatives at the European parliament”.

Demetris Papadakis was expelled from Edek in 2020

Papadakis responded, saying, “every day, he gives birth to new lies”.

“When I speak, I have proof. I don’t talk nonsense. He has no idea about the rules of the European parliament. The establishment has his back. He should have gone to prison twice. He’s throwing mud,” he said.

Sizopoulos then said that he had “tried to resolve the problems” with Papadakis, but that “Papadakis is obsessive”.

Papadakis responded again, saying that “Sizopoulos has bankrupted Edek” and that he has created a “criminal organisation” around him.

Later on Friday, Nikos Anastasiou, who replaced Sizopoulos as Edek leader on Sunday, called for the pair to resolve their differences away from the spotlight.

He said the public argument “does not help what I declared and set as my primary goal as soon as I took over as Edek leader – unity and solidarity”.

“I respect different opinions, everyone has the right to them, but I urge everyone to resolve their disagreements away from the spotlight. Either we will united Edek and continue as one, or the series of different opinions will continue with public arguments which will only harm our party,” he said.