A hard effort is expected in the immediate future from the AKEL candidate Andreas Mavrogiannis to secure support from the small but potentially important partners in the most unpredictable electoral contest in the history of the Republic of Cyprus. “Apple of Dispute”, while Achilles Dimitriadis and Nikos Christodoulidis remain in the race, will be specifically the parties DIPA & # 8211; Cooperation of Democratic Forces, Green Movement & # 8211; Citizens' Cooperation, Famagusta & # 8211; For Cyprus and Change of Generation, while in the pre-election game there will be various left movements such as “As Dame” and some other organized groups that move in the “reunification space”. The number of votes received by all the above parties in the last parliamentary elections is over 50,000 and is certainly not a negligible number, if we take into account the fact that it is 50% of the electoral power of DISY which was the first party and the 15% of the total number of valid votes. A number that could easily determine the outcome of the election.
Open all possibilities
Η ΔΗΠΑ & # 8211; Cooperation is the only party in the Center that expresses moderate positions on the Cyprus issue, such as the resumption of talks from where they left off in Crans Montana based on the Guterres framework. This is an element that brings it closer to AKEL and DISY than to the smaller parties in the so-called middle ground. In fact, a central executive of DIPA & # 8211; Cooperation assured the newspaper that there has been no meeting with Nikos Christodoulidis so far and that Vassilis Palmas, who has already chosen the camp of the former Foreign Minister in the presidential elections, “does not represent the party or hold a position in the collective bodies, but is a simple member of the faction who made a personal choice “. He described the meeting of the party with the candidate Achilleas Dimitriadis as constructive and productive and clarified that DIPA & # 8211; Cooperation at this stage has not prioritized the candidacies and does not exclude or favor anyone. While regarding the decision of the Central Committee of AKEL to nominate Andreas Mavrogiannis to the base teams, he stated that no one questions the honesty of his character. “Beyond that,” he added, “we expect to see his positions.” What is certain is that if Karoyan's proposal for a government of national unity or wider acceptance was accepted, the name of Andreas Mavrogiannis would be among the three that the president of DIPA would have put on the table.
However, DIPA & # 8211; Cooperation as a new party realizes that the presidential election is a survival election and that a collective effort will be needed to achieve this goal, which greatly reduces the chances of voters leaking to candidates other than the official choice. Therefore, the party expects that there will be a high degree of discipline with the decision of the presidential elections, due to the enthusiasm that prevails in the ranks of the party for the successful course in the parliamentary elections and the realization that everyone should work with party patriotism./p>
It is reminded that DIPA & # 8211; Cooperation in the 2021 parliamentary elections secured a percentage of 6.10% with 21,832 votes. That is, half of the votes of DIKO, which was third in the order of ranking the results. Therefore, it is an important help for any candidate in such a fragmented election scene.
Natural allies?
Achieving an alliance with the Ecologists' Movement is also considered very important & # 8211; Citizens' Cooperation, which in the last parliamentary elections secured a percentage of 4.41% with 15,762 votes. Of course, the case of the Ecologists is apparently the most difficult, since there does not seem to be any understanding within the party and it is considered difficult to impossible to gather everyone around a candidate.
After the internal party elections, there was a setback for the Ecologists. Older executives such as Kyriakos Tsimillis, who was elected A & # 8217; vice president and George Perdikis as the new district secretary of Nicosia. Old-fashioned executives trying to restore the hard line in the Cyprus issue, but provoking the reaction of other founding executives such as the former vice president B & # 8217; Adonis Giagkou, but also younger members of the Movement who play a leading role in the effort to change the party's positions on the national issue.
A source within the party said that the Ecologists' Movement has not clarified the scenario regarding the presidential elections. Although they rule out cooperation with DISY and ELAM, all other scenarios are open. Initially, there was a degree of penetration of Achilleas Dimitriadis in the party, with some first-class executives having already taken action to support his candidacy. However, it was considered a given that Perdikis and Tsimillis would not support him in contrast to the candidacy of Mavrogiannis, which is not rejected. There is, however, an informal cooperation with AKEL at the parliamentary level. Besides, the report of the secretary general is not accidental. of AKEL Stefanos Stefanos as a natural ally, after a meeting he had on April 28 with a delegation of the Movement of Ecologists & # 8211; Citizens' cooperation, with the main topic of discussion being the presidential elections.
Therefore, in the next period, a very hard battle is expected within the Movement between the various trends and the scenario is not ruled out that the supporters of the hard line will try to push the party towards the camp of Nikos Christodoulidis. Final decisions will be taken at a meeting of the Central Committee, where in order to pass any proposal it needs to secure 60% of the votes of the members of the body.
Change of Generation
Equally important will be the attitude of the party Change of Generation, which in the 2021 parliamentary elections gathered 2.82%, securing 10,095 votes.
Although the party founded by former MP Anna Theologou is currently on hold, co-operation with AKEL in the presidential election is the most likely scenario. Besides, the leader of the party, Anna Theologou, positions herself in the Center-Left and expresses pro-people positions on socio-economic issues that are very close to those of AKEL. What is certain is that they exclude the cooperation with DISY and ELAM. However, a round of contacts has taken place with AKEL and Achilleas Dimitriadis, while an informal meeting was held with the president of DIKO, Nikola Papadopoulos. In fact, there seems to be a very good impression on the face of Andreas Mavrogiannis, whom Generation Change has no problem supporting.
Therefore, the bet for AKEL is to achieve a collaboration with the Change of Generation party, which may offer the opportunity to the Left to include in its ballot a charismatic and dynamic political figure like Anna Theologou, who either agrees or disagrees with her. in some respects, it can not but acknowledge the fact that it is a politician who has left her mark, gaining the approval of the electorate. Maybe it is the right choice to fill the gap that Irini Charalambidou will leave behind, who is going through her last term in Parliament.
Famagusta & # 8211; For Cyprus
The Famagusta party & # 8211; For Cyprus, it is a new political movement with clear goals in the Cyprus issue, which secured a respectable number of voters in the previous parliamentary elections that exceeds 5 thousand (1.6%).
At this stage, there is an lead of Achilleas Dimitriadis in the party that is not unrelated to the fact that this candidate has been working for many months, creating personal relationships with some party officials. In fact, Achilles Demitriadis gained a significant core of supporters within the Politburo. A fact that may determine the party's stance in the presidential election.
On the other hand, the party presidency maintains a neutral stance, wanting to reach decisions through party processes and democratic processes. A source within the party told “P” that the final decision to support a candidate in the presidential election will be taken in June at a meeting of the 16-member Politburo. There will be the final confrontation of the various trends that exist in the party. The general tendency, however, is to move with the opposition parties.
The dilemma
Achilles Dimitriadis may have covered a lot of ground through his many months of election campaign, however the dilemma of losing the vote began to hover over the heads of all those who identified with his candidacy. Gradually the question for him will be whether he will stay as a candidate to hit the candidacy of the Left or whether he will side with AKEL, something for which they hope in AKEL. On the contrary, Andreas Mavrogiannis is now entering the election game and still has a long way to go, but he brings with him an air of victory due to the support provided by the second largest party in the Greek Cypriot community. Already on average, the candidacy in local AKEL teams is approved with percentages that far exceed 70%. Of course, he must be convinced that he does not carry weights with him from his coexistence with Anastasiadis and, above all, that he is not responsible for the impasse to which the Cyprus issue was led.
