Nikos Stylianides has withdrawn his Alma candidacy for the May 24 parliamentary elections, as a “matter of principle” following the removal of Demetris Papadakis from the Alma ballot.

Stylianides, who was running for Alma in Limassol, said the decision to remove former MEP Papadakis was “hasty and unfair”.

He explained that the decision was hasty because it was taken a day before Papadakis was set to provide evidence to the police and unfair because Alma had taken the decision on political grounds, not legal, but ignored the moral aspect.

On Tuesday, Alma confirmed it has removed Papadakis from its parliamentary election ballot, citing political considerations linked to ongoing allegations over disputed messages, despite stressing that the presumption of innocence remains intact.