A first reading of the EXPLORER poll for Phileleftheros points to one undisputed frontrunner. Averof Neofytou leads with 51%, against 28% for Giorgos Pamborides, in voting intention for the Democratic Rally’s (DISY) presidential nomination. That is a gap of 23 percentage points, reflecting the former party leader’s strong presence among DISY’s grassroots.
Read as a whole, however, and not solely through the contest between the two candidates, the poll reveals an equally important political finding. Nikos Christodoulides continues to maintain, and even strengthen, his positive image among DISY voters. This holds despite the clash that preceded the 2023 presidential elections and the opposition stance of the party’s current leadership.
Specifically, 49% of DISY supporters rate the President of the Republic positively or very positively, against 40%who hold a negative or very negative view. The remaining 11% did not answer.
The paradox
Taken together, these two findings create an interesting political paradox. Averof is clearly ahead in the race for the party nomination, but Christodoulides still enjoys significant acceptance within the same electorate. This is not necessarily a contradiction in voters’ choices. Rather, it is a sign that party identity does not fully determine their attitude towards the current President, and that the electoral base does not behave as a single political bloc.
The poll was carried out from 26 to 29 October among a targeted sample of 560 DISY voters. It included those who said they had voted for the party in the 2026 parliamentary elections or would vote for it if elections were held today.
The survey therefore does not reflect the voting intentions of society as a whole, but the views of a specific party audience.
Of particular interest is the breakdown among DISY supporters who had voted for Nikos Christodoulides in the first round of the 2023 presidential elections. In this group, Giorgos Pamborides wins 47%, against just 18% for Averof Neofytou.
This difference shows that the choices of 2023 continue to shape today’s internal party preferences. It also confirms that DISY’s base includes different political currents, which do not see the party’s relationship with the Presidential Palace in the same way.
An important clarification is needed, of course. A positive opinion of Christodoulides does not automatically translate into an intention to vote for him in the 2028 presidential elections. Nor does a preference for Averof necessarily mean a negative assessment of the President.
Drawing such conclusions would require cross-tabulating the answers of the same respondents.
Even so, the fact that almost half of the party’s voters rate Christodoulides positively is something no future DISY strategy can ignore.
Annita Demetriou’s withdrawal
The decision by Annita Demetriou to withdraw from the race for the presidential nomination played a decisive role in bringing about the current situation.
The DISY leader cited the need to safeguard unity, seeking to prevent internal party conflicts from escalating further. However, her decision did not bring the political calm it was intended to achieve.
Instead, the contest was narrowed down to Averof and Pamborides, while public debate continued to revolve around personal strategies, past clashes and the balance of power.
Quite a few observers believe that Demetriou’s withdrawal may have opened up more political space for Christodoulides within DISY’s base.
This view rests on earlier surveys suggesting that the DISY leader could have become a different rallying point, representing a new political proposition that was largely free of the conflicts that split the party’s voters in 2023.
Her absence from the race may deprive the party of the chance to test that prospect in practice.
The political cost of infighting
The developments of recent weeks have shown once again how hard DISY finds it to manage its internal differences without them becoming the central theme of public political debate.
The problem is that, within DISY, the process is unfolding in a climate where personal relationships often overshadow policy differences.
Prolonged preoccupation with internal party matters limits the party’s ability to present a coherent political proposal on the country’s problems. At the same time, it hampers efforts to restore its cohesion.
The problem grows even bigger when the internal contest becomes tied to the question of who more authentically represents DISY’s political camp.
Although Christodoulides is outside the party’s organisational structure, he remains an important political reference point for part of the party’s voters. This makes it harder to shape a single opposition strategy.
The nomination and the real political contest
Averof’s lead has clear political meaning. The former leader retains strong access to the party machinery and appears to win the preference of the majority of respondents who have chosen a candidate.
Giorgos Pamborides, on the other hand, shows significant appeal among the section of the base that supported Christodoulides in 2023, which points to different political paths within the same party.
Beyond the two candidates, 11% say they choose neither, 9% remain undecided and 1% did not answer.
The question, therefore, is not only who will prevail on 28 November. It is whether the winner can rally those who did not choose him and, above all, put forward a political proposal that reaches beyond the party’s organised membership.
This is where the difference between influence within the party and broader electoral appeal becomes clear. They are two different measures, and they do not necessarily coincide.
The poll provides no data on voting intention across the electorate as a whole, nor does it allow predictions for the 2028 presidential elections. It does, however, record a political base that has not fully distanced itself from the current President.
The day after
The internal contest may settle the question of the presidential nomination, but not all the unresolved issues facing DISY.
Annita Demetriou’s withdrawal, the contest between Averof and Pamborides and Christodoulides’ continued acceptance highlight three different aspects of the same political reality.
DISY needs to choose a candidate, restore its internal cohesion and redefine its relationship with the President of the Republic. These are three separate issues, and none can be resolved simply by declaring a winner.
The poll records Averof’s clear lead, but it is also a reminder that DISY’s political camp remains complex.
And this may be the most important conclusion: the internal ballot may produce DISY’s candidate, but it will not on its own determine who will politically represent the entire centre-right electorate in the 2028 presidential elections.
