The race to elect the new Speaker of the House of Representatives is entering its final phase ahead of Thursday's vote, the first plenary session of the newly elected parliament. Two candidates have so far declared: DISY president Annita Demetriou and ELAM leader Christos Christou.
Thursday's vote will be the first conducted under the parliament's new rules of procedure. Under the revised system, a candidate must secure 29 votes in the first round, a majority of 50%+1 of the 56 MPs. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the two with the most votes proceed to a second round decided by simple majority. In the event of a tie between candidates competing for a place in the second round, a repeat vote is held between them. Should a tie persist in the final round, a public draw is conducted by the presiding officer, who under the rules is the oldest MP in the chamber.
DISY announced last week, following a joint session of its executive bureau and new parliamentary group, that it would again contest the speakership with Demetriou as its candidate, a decision described as unanimous. It is currently taken as given that AKEL, ELAM and Alma will not support Demetriou, meaning she could only win in the first round with the backing of all DIKO and Direct Democracy MPs.
AKEL is expected to take its decisions at a Political Bureau meeting on Tuesday, 2 June. The left-wing party was approached by DIKO president Nikolas Papadopoulos about backing his candidacy from the first round and did not respond negatively. However, the possibility that AKEL secretary-general Stefanos Stefanou puts himself forward as a candidate has not been ruled out.
Papadopoulos himself, despite holding exploratory meetings with all parties, has not yet officially announced whether he will stand. Pre-election scenarios that had envisioned his candidacy receiving DISY support as part of a broader arrangement were upended by DISY's strong election result, leaving DIKO to explore support from other parties instead.
Alma leader Odysseas Michailidis met separately with both Papadopoulos and Stefanou on Thursday. In public statements, Michailidis said Alma will not back candidates from DISY, DIKO or ELAM in any round of the vote.
The position of Direct Democracy's MPs also remains unknown. According to the Cyprus News Agency, the party is holding firm to its intention to declare its position at the last moment. Both DISY and DIKO have already approached Direct Democracy about possible support for their respective candidates.
Scource: CNA
