The Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed on Thursday a civil appeal by Nikos Sykas against DISY over his removal from the party’s Limassol election list.
The appeal challenged an interim ruling by the Limassol District Court on 27 February 2026, which rejected Sykas’ request for an injunction to stop DISY’s Supreme Council from ratifying the decision to drop him as a candidate.
Sykas had been selected in an internal party vote on 11 October 2025 as a parliamentary candidate for the 24 May 2026 elections.
Physical assault charges
However, on 4 January 2026, a police complaint by a woman alleging physical assault was made public in a television broadcast.
DISY’s Executive Bureau moved the following day to back the party leader’s proposal to remove Sykas, a position it reaffirmed on 19 January. Later that day, the Political Bureau approved his removal in a secret ballot, referring the decision to the Supreme Council, which ratified it on 28 February.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal said the injunction sought was preventive in nature - a quia timet order - and agreed with the lower court that the legal threshold had not been met.
It said the appeal was effectively moot, as the decision Sykas had sought to block had already been carried out.
Unexessary to examine all grounds
“Given the fait accompli, no decision of the Court of Appeal could lead to the success of the application,” the ruling said.
Judges said this made it unnecessary to examine the nine grounds of appeal, although they did not exclude the possibility they might otherwise have had merit.
The court also rejected a request to declare the Supreme Council’s decision invalid, saying this would require it to exercise original jurisdiction on an issue not raised at first instance.
It added it could not go beyond the scope of the appeal to grant such relief.
While acknowledging Sykas’ position following his removal from the ballot, the court said the remedy sought could not be granted.
The appeal was dismissed, with costs of €4,000 plus VAT awarded to DISY.
CNA