Political negotiations are intensifying ahead of the first plenary session of the new House of Representatives on June 4, as parties seek to shape alliances around the election of the House President and the distribution of parliamentary committee chairmanships.
The scene remains unsettled, with traditional party lines intersecting with new parliamentary realities and the increased presence of smaller political formations seeking a stronger institutional role.
DISY is seeking the re-election of party president Annita Demetriou as House President, while also aiming to preserve channels of cooperation with DIKO. However, DIKO continues to hold contacts with all parties, including AKEL, and any cooperation between the two could prove decisive.
At the same time, ELAM’s clear refusal to support Demetriou, ALMA’s distancing and Direct Democracy’s wait-and-see stance have created a complex political puzzle in which every vote and alliance carries added weight.
The parallel discussion over parliamentary committees has opened a second front, centred on whether smaller parties should secure institutional roles beyond what is provided under the existing regulations.
DISY Seeks DIKO Cooperation
DISY’s parliamentary group is expected to meet on Thursday to examine the issues and set its priorities. On the House Presidency, its main objective appears to be securing cooperation with DIKO, while Demetriou’s candidacy remains firmly on the table.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, DISY deputy president Efthymios Diplaros said Demetriou would seek re-election “to the end”, arguing that both polling and the party’s election result showed she had been a successful House President. DISY received 27.2% in the parliamentary elections, a result which, he said, strengthened the party’s view that she had performed well and should seek another term.
Diplaros said talks with DIKO were continuing and stressed that DISY was keeping the House Presidency discussion separate from the presidential elections. He said the two parties had already cooperated on numerous issues and called on those who valued Demetriou’s work over the past five years to support her.
Referring to the new election procedure, he said the two candidates with the most votes in the first round would proceed to the second round and expressed confidence that Demetriou would be among them. He said DISY hoped DIKO would support her in the second round if it did not do so in the first.
Asked about the possibility of DIKO facing Demetriou in the second round, Diplaros said this was not something DISY would want, as the two parties had much in common. However, he added that “democracy will speak” and that DISY would respect any outcome.
He said there had been no contact with AKEL and that none was expected. He also noted that ELAM had already announced it would oppose Demetriou’s candidacy. Diplaros appealed to the remaining parties and independent MPs to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of Demetriou’s candidacy and decide on the basis of the wider public interest.
The picture also remains unclear on DISY’s intentions regarding committee chairmanships. DISY MP Dimitris Dimitriou told CNA that what appeared likely was that committee chairs would be allocated only to parties with a recognised parliamentary group.
Asked about smaller parties seeking committee chairmanships despite not having the seven MPs required to form a parliamentary group, Dimitriou said the majority appeared inclined to apply the regulation and avoid exceptions.
He explained that in the previous parliamentary term, EDEK had retained the Defence Committee chairmanship after losing the number of MPs required for a parliamentary group, because it had previously held that post and was considered to have performed well. That precedent, he said, later opened the way for other smaller formations to receive committee chairmanships, but the circumstances were now different.
AKEL Keeps Its Cards Closed
AKEL has not yet clarified its position. In public statements, party general secretary Stefanos Stefanou has not ruled out an AKEL candidacy for House President, but said this would depend on the balance among the other parties and that any decision would be taken collectively.
AKEL officials were not available for comment to CNA.
DIKO Holds Talks With Party Leaders
DIKO president Nicolas Papadopoulos told CNA that consultations on the House Presidency were continuing.
“I will have meetings and contacts with all leaders of parliamentary parties,” he said.
On committee chairmanships, he said no decision had yet been taken.
ELAM to Field Its Own Candidate
ELAM MP and spokesperson Marios Pelekanos said the party would enter the House Presidency process with its own candidate, although the final decision on the person had not yet been made.
He repeated that ELAM would not support Demetriou, nor any candidate from or backed by AKEL.
Asked whether ELAM could support Demetriou in a possible second round against AKEL general secretary Stefanos Stefanou, Pelekanos was categorical, saying there would be no support “not in the second round, nor in the twenty-third”.
He said ELAM was still holding internal consultations on its next moves and did not rule out contacts with other political forces in the coming period.
On parliamentary committees, Pelekanos said ELAM, as a party with a parliamentary group, believed it was entitled to three of the 16 committee chairmanships. He said the party had already ranked internally the committees it wished to claim, but would not reveal details at this stage.
He also left open the possibility of changes to the structure of the parliamentary committees, saying there were thoughts about merging some of them, which could reduce their total number.
ALMA Calls for Rule Change
ALMA leader Odysseas Michaelides criticised the way parliamentary committee chairmanships are distributed, saying his movement would claim one.
Speaking to CNA, he said that if some parties considered the existing House regulation an obstacle, it could be changed “in one minute”.
He said chairmanships had for years been given to parties with fewer than seven MPs, adding that the restriction cited by some parties was based on an internal House regulation, not the Constitution.
Michaelides said Article 73 of the Constitution did not prevent smaller parties from taking committee chairmanships. He questioned why a party with eight MPs should receive three committee chairs while a party with four MPs received none, calling such an outcome illogical.
He added that ALMA had in its parliamentary team “a very experienced MP” who had served in the House for 15 years and had previously chaired the Human Rights Committee. The goal, he said, should be for the most suitable people to chair committees.
On the House Presidency, Michaelides said the matter would be examined at a meeting of the movement’s executive secretariat with its parliamentary group on Wednesday afternoon.
He again made clear that ALMA could not support a candidate from ELAM, DIKO or DISY. He did not rule out abstention in the vote, while stressing that the movement would not enter into any transactions, either over the House Presidency or committee chairmanships.
Direct Democracy to Decide Last
Direct Democracy appears to be maintaining a wait-and-see stance on the House Presidency, with movement sources saying final decisions will be taken at the end of the process, possibly even on the day of the vote.
According to the same sources, a meeting of the parliamentary group under Fidias Panayiotou has been scheduled so that members can be briefed on approaches made by other parties and political forces. Other parties have already contacted Panayiotou, although he has not yet formally briefed the group.
Movement sources said no decision had been taken on supporting any candidacy for House President, while serious consideration is being given to asking citizens for their view through the electronic application promoted by the movement.
“This is the first political act and we told people that we would ask for their opinion,” the sources said.
On parliamentary committees, Direct Democracy believes it should receive at least one chairmanship, citing precedents involving smaller parties such as EDEK. Its priorities include committees dealing with human rights, education and health.
Source: CNA
