By Sophoclis Moussoulos, Economist / Historian
She began her uphill climb in politics under very difficult circumstances, as a community councillor, walking the noble path of fair competition with persistence and patience. And yet she succeeded: she became the first woman President of DISY and the first woman President of the House of Representatives.
Amid the intense general disdain projected in the run-up to the May 2026 parliamentary elections towards the "old establishment parties," many believed that the Democratic Rally, too, would lose enormous ground, and there were no shortage of people rubbing their hands together, since a resounding defeat for DISY would have been read as a personal defeat for Annita, one that might well have raised the question of her resignation. And yet the captain, the level-headed politician, the doe who does not fall into the traps set by hunters of political heads, pulled it off once again, leading the Democratic Rally to a resounding victory. The crowning achievement of that victory was her re-election to the position of President of the House, the second-highest office of state in the Republic of Cyprus, a post pursued by "dauphins" and drawing-room "princes," by beggars for political appointments who, before the election, believed that political consciences could easily be bought with money (even Milošević's money).
Annita has proven that she can carry out serious and effective work, and she certainly stands out because she is straightforward and knows how to wage her battles fairly. She detests hypocrisy and dirty political games, which is why she does not behave like other petty leaders who "hit below the belt," who spend their time investigating and staging kangaroo courts against candidates from other parties — as the Direct Democracy candidate Valery Tarapai was accused of by the leader of another party, over the fact that, more than ten years ago, as an immature young woman, she had been arrested in the pseudo-state for carrying a small quantity of drugs. Valery now has a husband, children and a stable job. The result was that Valery withdrew her candidacy with dignity, while her "accuser" showed his true character.
Annita has never been a "political beggar." She has never sought appointments to important state positions for members of her party, nor does she shuttle back and forth to the Presidential Palace pleading for ministerial posts for party officials. On the contrary, she says no to any appointment bait offered by the Palace.
Annita is direct, humble and grounded. She listens and accepts others as they are. When the "princes" mocked Fidias and derided Odysseas Michaelides, Annita was willing to hear other people's positions without succumbing to panicked scaremongering about the supposedly uncertain, destabilising future that new parties would allegedly bring. And, quite rightly, she built good working relations with Fidias Panayiotou.
Annita did not grow up in luxurious drawing rooms, nor did she crawl about on thick Persian rugs. On the contrary, on the stony path of her life she felt the presence of poverty, knows what the cost of living means, has spent time among families who are suffering, has embraced children with special needs, visits charitable institutions, and helps people by giving them genuine, direct attention and assistance in their time of need.
And yet Annita's path remains a difficult one. The establishment still exists: the Brutuses, the ambitious suitors of power, the politicians of self-enrichment with long arms and big ears who learned from previous governments how to sniff out deposits of opportunity for wealth, and the party conspirators circling like carrion vultures — they are all gathered there, very close to Annita. There are also those who tried and failed, who have worn themselves out, who fail to grasp that their personality, their stature, their abilities contain insurmountable shortcomings, and yet who still want, and insist on being, candidates for the presidential election. Indeed, some of them began their pre-election campaign with gatherings in private homes, handing out souvenir gifts to those present, all while losing no opportunity to throw barbs at the president of their own party. There are also the excessively ambitious, newly emerged "messiahs" who claim that today's Democratic Rally is no longer the "old" Democratic Rally — as if DISY were meant to remain an anachronistic, fossilised relic, forgetting the modernisation that Annita achieved through hard work.
At the very least, all these self-styled "party luminaries" who wish to present themselves as leaders should learn the content and meaning of the word "respect." If they love, or even merely respect, the party they wish to lead, they should first respect the party procedures that will determine, democratically, on the road to victory, who the next leader will be — who will take the driver's seat on the chariot led by the goddess Nike of Paionios of Mende, which has also been established as a symbol of the Democratic Rally. Will we, perhaps, for the first time have a woman President of the Republic? Why not?
