EDEK appears to have surrendered itself to an endless cycle of internal strife, with Nikos Anastasiou resigning from the party presidency and switching off his mobile phone, leaving behind two opposing camps.
One camp, with former EDEK president Marinos Sizopoulos as its main spokesman, is challenging the decisions taken by the Extraordinary Pan-Cyprian Congress, speaking of a constitutional deviation. The second camp is attempting to implement in practice the decisions adopted on 5 July, advancing the argument that the Pan-Cyprian Congress is the party's highest body.
The Central Committee is now called upon to implement Article 43 of the party constitution, which stipulates that following the resignation of the party president, elections must be called within 40 days for the selection of a new leader. During this period, deputy president Morfakis Solomidous will serve as acting head of the party.
Nikos Anastasiou resigned unexpectedly on Tuesday through a public statement, expressing the view that "instead of the knives being put back in their sheaths, they are being sharpened, with all that this implies", while acknowledging that he had failed in his effort to unite the party.
The previous day, the Political Bureau had met, and because of the sequence of events, some party officials concluded that members of that collective body had exerted strong pressure on the party president.
Sources told Politis that the atmosphere at the Political Bureau meeting was tense and that the session took place in the presence of a lawyer, with the aim of challenging the legality of the decisions taken by the Pan-Cyprian Congress.
The same sources expressed the view that specific members of the Political Bureau are attempting to create a new rift within EDEK in order to halt the processes initiated by the Pan-Cyprian Congress. These include, among other things, reopening the membership registry, holding a Constitutional Congress and conducting a financial audit.
They also questioned "why some people do not want the return of members who were expelled and a financial audit."
However, other party officials told Politis that the Political Bureau meeting was conducted in a calm atmosphere and that Nikos Anastasiou resigned because of the hard-line stance adopted by certain members of EDEK's five-member Congress and Membership Register Reform Committee.
They specifically pointed to Nicos Nicolaides, who moved quickly to announce on Facebook the committee's decisions to hold a Constitutional Congress on 11 October 2026 and an Electoral Congress on 13 December 2026.
These officials also argue that the committee, which was established by decision of the Pan-Cyprian Congress, did not respect the party's collective bodies by unilaterally setting dates for the Constitutional and Electoral Congresses.
They further maintain that the committee has a specific mandate, namely to prepare a list of individuals who stood as candidates with other parties or supported candidates from other political groupings.
Statement from EDEK
Meanwhile, in a statement issued yesterday, EDEK expressed regret over Nikos Anastasiou's resignation and stressed that the party's competent collective bodies would be convened to deal with the broader developments.
The statement notes that implementation of the decisions of the Extraordinary Pan-Cyprian Congress of 5 July 2026 will proceed through "the Political Bureau and the Central Committee, as the only competent bodies" of the party, a reference that clearly reflects the challenge to the role of the five-member Congress and Membership Register Reform Committee.
The announcement also attached the official minutes of the Pan-Cyprian Congress in order to clarify the role of the committee as understood by the party leadership.
The five-member committee consists of Nikos Anastasiou, Nicos Nicolaides, Diomedes Diomidous, Michalis Koutalianos and Pavlos Michael.
