The stance of AKEL on the issue of the presidency of the House remains a puzzle despite yesterday’s lengthy session of the Political Bureau, which decided to refer the matter to the Central Committee for further discussion. However, information from Politis indicates that before the meeting of the Central Secretariat, scheduled for today at 15:00, new contacts will take place between the General Secretary of AKEL and the President of DIKO regarding the presidency of the House.
The same information indicates that during yesterday’s session of the Political Bureau of AKEL, it was decided that Mr Stephanou would contact Nicholas Papadopoulos to sound out whether there is a possibility for another person from DIKO to run for the presidency of the House. Mr Stephanou is also expected to put forward to Nicholas Papadopoulos the proposal for DIKO to support a potential AKEL candidate.
Christiana Erotokritou
This morning’s communication between the leaders of the two parties is considered crucial for AKEL’s final stance. The candidacy of Nicholas Papadopoulos does not appear to be accepted within AKEL ranks, nor among the broader left‑wing electorate. This was acknowledged by the President of DIKO during his first contact with the General Secretary of AKEL on the issue of the presidency of the House last week, while it was also pointed out by Stefanos Stephanou.
It is not expected, however, that the General Secretary of AKEL will put any other name on the table during today’s contact with Nicholas Papadopoulos, as the left‑wing party does not consider it appropriate to interfere in DIKO’s internal affairs. Nevertheless, there is broader discussion surrounding the name of DIKO Deputy President Christiana Erotokritou, who publicly disagreed with the prospect of cooperation between the centrist party and DISY.
Central Committee
By the afternoon, when AKEL’s Central Committee meets, the situation is expected to become clearer - specifically, what options the 120 members of the Central Committee will have before them. However, it is not considered certain that final decisions will be taken today. It is expected that an open discussion will take place on the main scenarios to define the framework of further handling and consultations, since yesterday the Political Bureau did not reach any proposal for the members of the Central Committee. Information from Politis indicates that members of the Political Bureau had already decided in the morning to refer the matter to the Central Committee. Although the Central Committee is the highest body in AKEL, the issue may be brought back to the Political Bureau on Thursday morning for a final decision.
The two trends
From the Political Bureau meeting, it became clear that there are various concerns on the issue. There were also voices in favour of supporting DIKO’s candidacy on the argument that it would create better prospects for cooperation in the 2028 presidential elections. However, there did not appear to be a majority trend in that direction. On the contrary, several members of the Political Bureau recognised the risk of internal tensions arising from the party’s choices and supported the idea that AKEL should claim the presidency of the House itself. Differences of opinion with DIKO on a range of internal and external issues were also acknowledged, as well as the fact that Nicholas Papadopoulos’ party participates in the governing coalition. Therefore, the Political Bureau did not close the door on DIKO but did not remove from the table a possible candidacy of Stefanos Stephanou. It did, however, rule out the possibility of supporting any candidacy of Irene Charalambidou.
DIKO
DIKO has not taken final decisions, party President Nicholas Papadopoulos said yesterday, without ruling out either the possibility of supporting a candidate from AKEL or the possibility of supporting Annita Demetriou.
In statements on the programme Protoselido on SIGMA, Mr Papadopoulos said that his own candidacy is one of the scenarios examined by the DIKO Secretariat and parliamentary group, adding that the party has examined other options as well. He reiterated that DIKO had made it clear from the outset that it does not operate on the basis of exclusions, stressing that they are ready to discuss with all parties to reach cooperation on the functioning of the House and the election of its president. The DIKO President stated that consultations with other parties will continue in order to determine their final positions on the issue of the presidency of the House, after which the party will take final decisions.
ELAM
The President of DIKO did not manage to secure the support of ELAM, at least in the first round. The President of ELAM revealed on the podcast '25 Minutes' of ALPHA that he will be the party’s candidate for the presidency of the House. However, Christos Christou stated yesterday on the programme “Alpha Information” that the possibility of supporting Nicholas Papadopoulos in the second round of voting remains open, clarifying that no such decision has been taken by ELAM. Nevertheless, Nicholas Papadopoulos’ candidacy cannot advance to the second round without the support of AKEL, and the President of ELAM made it clear that any support for Nicholas Papadopoulos would become particularly difficult in the event of cooperation between DIKO and AKEL.
The pressures
The political manoeuvres of Nicholas Papadopoulos and his various openings towards opposition parties are causing serious concern as to whether the cooperation between DIKO and DISY in the House may be put at risk.
Yesterday, DISY Vice President Efthymios Diplaros stated on the programme 'Mera Mesimeri' that there are many issues that unite the right‑wing party with DIKO. He added that DISY cooperated with DIKO both during the ten‑year presidency of Nicos Anastasiades and during the three‑year presidency of Nicos Christodoulides. He referred to tax and education reform, saying that almost all government bills passed by the legislative body had the support of DIKO and DISY.
He also recalled that throughout the pre‑election period a message of responsibility and seriousness was conveyed, stressing that in this effort the party had strategic allies. “Beyond society,” he added, “in this effort we had allies in the Democratic Party and the Democratic Alignment.”
