Former Limassol mayor Nicos Nicolaides has publicly endorsed Sofia Christodoulou Makri ahead of EDEK’s leadership election on 5 September. In a statement titled “Time for a Clear Choice”, he said her candidacy represents the radical change the party now needs.
A call for radical change
Nicolaides said he returned to EDEK after ten years of “party exile” out of a sense of duty towards the historic party. That same sense of duty, he added, compelled him to state his position publicly on its future.
He strongly criticised EDEK’s course in recent years, arguing that a “prolonged path of self-destruction” had led to the party’s discrediting and, ultimately, the loss of its parliamentary representation.
According to Nicolaides, certain individuals bear “very serious responsibility”, either because they imposed or tolerated the political practices that brought EDEK to its current position.
He added that those individuals had already lost credibility among both the party’s grassroots supporters and wider society.
A message from voters
Nicolaides also referred to the result of the recent parliamentary election, saying society had sent EDEK a clear message rejecting the existing state of affairs.
At the same time, he said voters were demanding radical change so that the party could seek a second chance.
The priority now is not to assign blame, but to rescue and reunite EDEK, Nicolaides said.
