Former Disy leader Averof Neophytou on Tuesday said he did not announce his candidacy for president “just to be a candidate” as he insisted he would not “go through what I went though in 2023”.

Outlining his reasons for announcing his candidacy, Neophytou explained his positions on the Cyprus issue, ongoing party manoeuvres within Disy, saying that those who were “betrayed” in 2023 must be careful not to be betrayed again.

Neophytou was the party candidate for president in the 2023 elections but was beaten in the first round by Nikos Christodoulides, who had been thrown out of the party after announcing he would stand as an independent and Akel-backed Andreas Mavroyiannis.

He criticised those who “wave the flag of unity and political ethics”, arguing that they themselves “made a rag on both unity and morality and political ethics”.

Related Articles

Referring to the Cyprus issue, he said he had been criticised for his attitude towards President Nikos Christodoulides even by his political allies.

Continued deadlock in Cyprus talks

Averof had said that he would support Christodoulides if the latter moved towards a solution and claimed that he had warned that moves limiting the possibility of resuming negotiations needed to be avoided at all costs.

The former Disy leader announced on Sunday that he will stand in the 2028 presidential election, citing the continued deadlock in the Cyprus problem.

Announcing his candidacy, Neophytou said the latest rounds of discussions had failed to produce progress towards the resumption of negotiations.

“The window of hope for the Cyprus problem unfortunately remained closed,” he said, adding that “not the slightest thing was agreed” in New York, where both Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman met UNSG Antonio Guterres last week as well as his Cyprus envoy Maria Angela Holguin.

Neophytou also pointed to the approaching end of Guterres’ term, saying that the UNSG had linked his legacy to efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem but would leave in three months with the deadlock unresolved.

He accused the government of ignoring his repeated warnings that time was working against the Greek Cypriot side, saying it has maintained the same approach.

Expressing what he called the concerns of a significant portion of society regarding the lack of progress, he called for renewed efforts towards reunifying the island and ending the status quo.