DIPA is facing growing internal pressure just days after an election result that left the party outside the new House of Representatives, with public interventions by senior figures confirming the difficult climate within the party.
At the centre of the discussion are questions of responsibility for the electoral setback, as well as differing views on how the party should handle the aftermath.
Former DIPA MP and current Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas intervened publicly, sending clear messages to party figures in an apparent effort to contain the impression of introversion and public confrontation that has begun to emerge after the ballot.
Without naming anyone directly, Mousiouttas appeared to criticise public statements by party officials seeking to assign blame for the failure, warning that such moves further damage the party at a particularly critical moment.
Speaking to Omega TV, he said the priority should be self-criticism and internal dialogue, stressing that “placing responsibility, directly or indirectly, on one person or another is not the right direction”.
Mousiouttas’ remarks are being interpreted in party circles as a response to public comments by DIPA vice-president Marinos Kleanthous, who also pointed to the Presidential Palace, arguing that actions and behaviour from within the President’s circle had not helped the party during the election campaign.
At the same time, the stance of DIPA’s leadership after the election result is also fuelling political discussion, with party president Marios Karoyian attributing a significant part of the failure to opinion polls and to the climate of a “wasted vote” which, he argued, was created against the party before the election.
Mousiouttas, however, insisted that the discussion must take place away from the public spotlight, noting that different views exist but should be expressed internally rather than in public.
“I also have views on what went wrong, but I will not state them publicly,” he said, indirectly confirming the tension inside DIPA after its heavy electoral defeat.
