Diko leader Nicholas Papadopoulos on Sunday refused to be drawn on whether or not his party will support President Nikos Christdodoulides’ re-election campaign in 2028, saying that “Diko does not give blank cheques to anyone”.

“Diko’s decision on the presidential elections will be made by the party’s collective bodies, and specifically the central committee, after our internal party dialogue has been completed. This dialogue is developing as we speak,” he told newspaper Politis.

He added that this dialogue will take into account “an evaluation of the government’s work and cooperation within the government”, as well as “the perspective for the next five years”.

“Therefore, the party’s decision is not a given for anyone, as this decision will not be made by me, but it will be collective. Also, we must first listen to the president himself regarding his intentions, his vision, and his proposals for the next five years. In any case, Diko does not give blank cheques to anyone,” he said.

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As such, he added, “any cooperation we have in the presidential elections will be based on a specific programme, on specific positions, and on an overall vision for the coming years”.

Asked why the party’s support for Christodoulides, whom it endorsed in 2023 and whose government it has continued to support in the three and a half years since then, cannot be taken for granted, he said that “no one can take this decision alone”.

“We must, therefore, respect the collective bodies of the party, our fellow activists, and the intra-party dialogue. As we have said many times, the sign for us in terms of the implementation of the government’s work is positive, and Diko has contributed more than anyone else, both in the formulation and the implementation of the government’s programme,” he said.

Then asked which way grassroots Diko members are leaning on the matter, he said that “at the present stage, what is mainly being done in the district conferences is the mapping of the political scene, an evaluation of the government’s work, and an analysis of the prospects of the next five years for our party and for the country”.

“I am not going to talk about trends or positions, because that would not be fair to those fellow activists who have not yet had the opportunity to take a position,” he said.

Diko and Elam both supporting Christodoulides remains a ‘hypothetical’

He was also asked about the matter of Diko ministers, including Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides, insisting that the party will endorse Christodoulides’ 2028 campaign, and stressed that “Diko maintains its independence” from the government.

“Rightly, in my opinion, Diko’s participation in the government has increased, as today, Diko is the only parliamentary party in the government and the only ruling party in parliament. Therefore, our role has become even more important in terms of the implementation of the government’s programme,” he said.

Asked whether he is “bothered” by the prospect of both Diko and Elam supporting Christodoulides in 2028, he said that “we are not going to enter hypothetical scenarios before we have first heard the announcements of the interested candidates”.

Diko supported Christodoulides’ campaign in 2023, while Papadopoulos ran himself in 2018. The party endorsed Disy candidate and eventual election winner Nicos Anastasiades in 2013, while Papadopoulos’ late father Tassos Papadopoulos stood in both the 2008 and 2003 elections while party leader.