On his way to the podium of the European People’s Party conference in Bucharest, Nikos Christodoulides had decided that he could not make any statements that would be interpreted in Cyprus as support for the Democratic Rally. A few minutes earlier he had deleted from his speech sentences about the upcoming European elections. That move, on 7 March, was a form of response by Nikos Christodoulides to Annita Demetriou. A few hours earlier, the President of the Democratic Rally had criticized Nikos Christodoulides for the report’s content on the first year of government.
The events of 7 March in Bucharest raised several questions about the attitude that Nikos Christodoulides and the Presidency want to adopt in the forthcoming elections on 9 June. Elections that are not only European but also concern the local government of Cyprus. Elections, which are considered of particular importance primarily for the Democratic Rally, after the setback it received in the 2023 presidential election.
For the Democratic Rally (DISY) leadership, it was clear by now where the Presidential Palace stands regarding the 9 June elections and they are certainly not on the same side. This to some extent would be tolerable given what had taken place during the 2023 election.
Particularly, after DISY leader Annita Demetriou’s public and clear statement a year ago that definitively placed the Democratic Rally in the opposition.
For months, DISY had been receiving various messages that had to do with the movements of the presidential entourage and the processes concerning the upcoming electoral procedures. Movements which were either directly or indirectly related to the party. Until the beginning of March, little attention was paid to these moves and messages.
But then for the leadership of the party and personally for Annita Demetriou, it was clear that in these elections she will not only have to fight against her party opponents and what is troubling her party internally, but DISY will also have to face the Presidential Palace.
On the 5th floor of Pindarou (DISY headquarters) there is discontent, because while DISY is fighting under the umbrella of the European People’s Party, Nikos Christodoulides not only does not help in this direction, but at the same time he opposes the party with which they are united under the same European umbrella.
For Annita Demetriou and her colleagues, it is clear that Nikos Christodoulides is exploiting his participation in the EPP for personal gain.
This of course has a logic, which Nikos Christodoulides makes sure to periodically remind himself (using an unflattering term) that he is a “political orphan.” In this way, he wants to say that he does not belong to, but above all, he is not in any way beholden to anyone, especially to DISY, by playing on the polemic that he received from the Democratic Rally during the presidential elections. A polemic, of course, which had to do with the elections (since Averof Neophytou, then president of DISY, was also a candidate).
On the other hand, the Presidential Palace forgets that it was with the agreement of DISY that Nikos Christodoulides joined the European People’s Party group. For the EPP, the participation of Nikos Christodoulides was important since the credibility of a political group is measured by how many heads of state/government it has in its ranks. EPP did not want to reduce its power with the departure of Nikos Anastasiades and thus managed to “win” Nikos Christodoulides from Renew. After all, for Nikos Christodoulides himself, it was more important to be in a group like the EPP which was clearly stronger.
The President’s relations not only with individuals from the DISY party but also with certain party officials were well known from the beginning. More or less everyone knows who was or still is going in and out of the Presidential Palace, maintaining open lines of communication with the Presidency. Just as everyone knows the persons within DISY who want to see their party hitched to the chariot of Nikos Christodoulides. There are people (with high positions in the party) who openly state that if DISY joins the Christodoulides government there will be benefits.
These moves contradict Annita Demetriou’s narrative that the party belongs to the opposition. How can the party’s chairperson, on the one hand, declare that the party is in opposition and, on the other hand, leading members of the party talk about participating in the government?
But what is of particular concern to the DISY president, and she already has several examples/incidents in her hands, is that some people in the party have an open line of communication with the Presidential Palace and keep the Presidential Office constantly informed on several issues, especially those that concern her personally both as leader of the party and as Speaker of the Parliament.
That is why she appears determined to take steps to close the leakage channel from Pindarou to the Presidential Palace.
