Although there are still 16 months to go before the presidential election, it has already started dominating the news.

One news website, that openly supports President Christodoulides has had a story about the election manoeuvres of individuals and the internal machinations of political parties prominently displayed almost every day for the last month. The irony is that Christodoulides recently said that he will not decide whether to seek re-election before 2027, although it is blatantly obvious that the decision has already been taken and only the official announcement has been left for next year.

If the decision had not been taken, the president would not have been sowing divisions in Diko and Disy by appointing party members to serve his government. In the last reshuffle, a few months ago, he filled his cabinet with Diko members in an attempt to tie the party to his candidacy, because of rumours that party leader Nicolas Papadopoulos was unhappy with the alliance with Christodoulides and would explore other options. The ploy worked as a couple of Diko ministers have already publicly stated the party would vote for Christodoulides, before any decision was taken by the party’s decision-making bodies.

Divisions have also been sowed within Disy with the presidential palace having secret contacts with members of the leadership since before the last election. In the reshuffle a Disy parliamentary candidate was appointed deputy minister while a week ago, a former Disy vice president, Nicos Tornaritis, was given the ludicrous title of ‘presidential envoy for the Cyprus problem in Africa and Asia’. This has shaken the leadership of Annita Demetriou, who has given party titles to leading members in an attempt to keep them on side, and has also had to contend with Nicos Anastasiades’ efforts to impose Christodoulides as the Disy candidate.

An even bigger problem within the party is that three party members are vying for the Disy candidacy which would be decided by vote – the party leader is no longer the automatic presidential candidate. Demetriou, who could be challenged by deputy Giorgos Pamborides, is the favourite, but former leader Averof Neophytou caused a stir on Thursday by declaring that he could stand as an independent, without seeking the party backing, which was what Christodoulides had done successfully in 2022.

Could he be a credible candidate as an independent when he failed to make the second round as the Disy candidate in 2023? Most probably not, but he would undermine the prospects of the party candidate by splitting the Disy vote that will not back Christodoulides.

Akel has still not made any decisions but was in the news on Friday when Sir Stelios Hadjioannou issued a statement to quash rumours that he was in talks with the party about the possibility of being presidential candidate. He said that he “has no interest in entering politics and pursuing any political position”. The party’s 2023 candidate, Andreas Mavroyiannis, has said that he was in the lead in all opinion polls but would decide whether to stand by the end of this year. He would be hoping Akel would eventually decide to back him although this is no certainty.

As things are Christodoulides is in the driving seat. After Disy he has made inroads into the core of Diko and he is on very good terms with Elam, two of whose newly elected deputies are close associates of the president. And he is using government policies – higher pensions, broadened eligibility for child benefits, housing schemes for young families – which he personally announces on film to take personal credit. The only thing that could undermine his re-election drive is the rising rate of inflation which is currently at 4.5 per cent and could climb higher next year spreading discontent as it further erodes people’s purchasing power.

Things can change. If, as they say, a week is a very long time in politics, 16 months could be described as an eternity.