Haris Georgiades also seized the opportunity to have his say, speaking about fish taverns and extra-institutional interventions in his party. But why did he not ask his party leader, who was present, before starting to talk nonsense, whether the dinner at the fish tavern constituted an extra-institutional — and indeed binding — process? Some may — as, of course, may Mr Pamporidis, who adopted the same line — remind him that excessive party patriotism can easily cross the boundaries of hypocrisy.
They could point out to Mr Georgiades that, when he took over the Co-operative, he appointed all his former classmates from the English School to key positions through extra-institutional means and without any consultation with his party or the government. At the same time, Pamporidis, who also identified extra-institutional interventions, forgot to tell us — as a DISY official — what extra-institutional contacts he had with AKEL in 2022 in order to be selected as the centre-left candidate for the presidential election.
Kalavana
They are going after Theano Kalavana because she wrote an article on election day, in breach of the legislation in force! Who is to blame? Kalavana, who exercised her constitutional right to freedom of expression, or the stupid law currently in force, which prohibits you from expressing your opinion on election day, as though we were living in the 1920s?
The law is based on the so-called pre-election silence and, specifically for parliamentary elections, follows very clearly from Article 63 of the 1979 Law on the Election of Members of the House of Representatives, Law 72/1979. This legislation also extends to presidential elections.
The philosophy behind these provisions is not some Cypriot peculiarity. It is the internationally recognised concept of “campaign silence” or “election silence”: a short period before voting during which campaigning is restricted so that voters can make their decision without continued electoral pressure. The OSCE/ODIHR recognises that such periods exist in several countries, but at the same time points out that excessively broad restrictions may raise issues concerning freedom of expression and the right to information.
In Cyprus, where we have no limits — sadly, we have reached this point — 17 of our fellow citizens are accusing the state of attempting to silence them. We believe the law is stupid and that Parliament should change it.
Listen to the fox from Argaka!
Usually, the fox is a clever animal. Averof’s record and conduct since 2022 show precisely the opposite — something which, to his credit, he has admitted himself.
In the 2023 presidential election, he lost the election and his party, having chosen to ignore the opinion polls that were telling him, “You’re not going to make it.” Instead of realistically accepting the numbers from his own polls, he obsessively stuck to the narrative that he had been betrayed, without acknowledging that there were other explanations for his failure.
The day before yesterday, when he decided to act outside the institutional framework, once again ignoring the bad polls and disregarding whether his party might be driven to dissolution, he also lost the last serious DISY members who still believed in him.
We are not talking about the naïve — or even the gullible — people who run after politicians, but about party officials who believed that perhaps he deserved one more chance. These officials, who could have been ministers under Christodoulides, saw a Foulis looking only after himself, driving his party towards dissolution and betraying the last friends he had.
And so, completely alone, like a reed in a field, he sat down last Tuesday opposite 20 journalists without having anything new to say.
Marina Oikonomidou spoke on Alpha television about journalists and political fixers. Why? Because Averof said that he had reached an agreement to support his candidacy at a fish tavern? If she believes this, she is probably naïve, but we could forgive her.
On the other hand, since we are talking about fixers, let us remind everyone that there is a television station that supports major interests in the energy sector, adjusting its commentary accordingly.
Of course, Xiouris, of the Lottides brothers and their sister who works at the Presidential Palace, could not resist writing something either, “greeting Chris and Dionysis”. We went to eat a fish that we ourselves paid for, my dear Xiouris, and they took it right out of our mouths, while your bosses are also looking after their own and acting as though they are above us. What a bunch of tough guys, I tell you!
Is Annita to blame?
Is Annita Demetriou to blame for this farce that unfolded last week, with Averof as its main protagonist? She and her communications team cannot be entirely blameless.
The team has, since the parliamentary elections, been constantly sending the message that she will be a candidate in the presidential election, in contrast to Demetriou herself, who until recently said she had not made up her mind.
The real issue, of course, was not this ambiguity but the DISY poll and its leak to Phileleftheros, which awakened Averof’s political instincts that, once again, someone was trying to do him over.
If Annita wanted to conduct a poll without problems, she should have invited those interested — namely Averof and Pamporidis — and informed them. As party president and guardian of party unity, she should also have informed them of the results rather than allowing them to find out after a member of the Political Bureau leaked them.
Things subsequently spiralled out of control, resulting in the party’s growing inward-looking mentality and internal strife.
Quite a few women readers of this column called to complain about, as they put it, “Averof’s disgraceful attitude” towards Annita. All this talk about close and very close advisers who were supposedly making decisions on her behalf, even in her presence, was deeply offensive.
Ultimately, the discussion was about the presidency of the House. “What are we supposed to say,” we were asked, “about Averof’s close and very close relationships with a particular businessman, as well as others, with whom he had companies and bought land for another very close, extremely close friend of the businessman?”
There is something genuinely troubling about Foulis’ logic.
What was most disappointing of all, of course, was his willingness to play the new Christodoulides by distancing himself from the party. From Sunday, when he announced his intention, until Friday, when he partially rowed back, he took an absolute battering from all his close and very close friends.
UNSG
The name of Turkish diplomat Feridun Sinirlioğlu is increasingly being mentioned for the position of UN Secretary-General, as the Latin American candidates do not appear particularly strong. The foreign ministries of Greece and Cyprus are following the matter.
Sinirlioğlu is one of Turkey’s most experienced diplomats and a close associate of Erdoğan, with long involvement in Greek-Turkish relations, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Cyprus issue. Among other positions, he served as Turkey’s permanent representative to the UN from 2016 to 2023 and signed letters to the United Nations setting out Turkey’s positions on maritime zones and the continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Since December 2024, he has served as Secretary General of the OSCE. His election took place as part of a broader Greek-Turkish understanding, as Greek diplomat Mania Telalian was simultaneously selected to head the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
In Cyprus, both Christos Stylianides and Andreas Mavroyiannis know Mr Sinirlioğlu very well and regard him as a serious diplomat. No one, of course, knows whether he can actually be elected, as there are many candidates. Even María Ángela Holguín, I am told, has not thrown in the towel and will fight it out for the time being.
