The ratification of the candidacy of Andreas Mavrogiannis for the presidential elections was yesterday a formal process in the Central Committee of AKEL. However, it sent an important message about the course of the election campaign. In the Central Committee, the majority of the ratification of the independent candidacy was almost absolute, since out of the 95 members present, 94 voted in favor and only one member of the body voted against.
This result is particularly important, since now the whole body is moving in a coordinated and collective way in view of the pre-election campaign, leaving behind the initial intense concerns brought by the proposed candidacy.
The codification of the final results of the voting on the basis of the party is a positive sign for the difficult election campaign. According to the data, a percentage of 78% in the base party groups voted in favor of the Central Committee's proposal to support the candidacy of Andreas Mavrogiannis. According to the party's central organizing office, 35% of the party members participated in the grassroots party organizations, which corresponds to 4,000 of the 10,500 members registered in the party register. The percentage of participation of members in the base party groups in view of the 2023 presidential elections was considered by the Central Committee to be particularly positive. As party sources noted in “P”, the outcome will be positive if we compare the result with the pre-election assemblies of 2018 in which a percentage of 28% of the members participated, while in the pre-election assemblies for the 2013 presidential elections a percentage participated of 32%.
The big step
It should be noted, however, that the KE, the same body that yesterday almost unanimously decided to support the independent candidacy of Andreas Mavrogiannis, almost a month before had sent this candidacy to the base party groups with a relative majority. However, today, as they estimate at AKEL, things have taken their course and are gaining new momentum. The decision of the AKEL bodies to support the independent candidacy of Andreas Mavrogiannis is expected to be approved at the party's electoral conference, which will take place next Sunday, June 5. About 1,500 delegates will be in charge of the final part of the candidate selection process. A process during which no surprises are expected, despite the fact that discussions and reflection on the upcoming project will not be avoided. The electoral conference will also be the political springboard as the party's election campaign will begin in conjunction with the positions and views on the major issues of the independent candidate himself.
The battle in EDEK
Meanwhile, one of the historical executives of EDEK, Doros Theodorou, set new fires yesterday, regarding the crisis within the party.
Speaking to Politis 107.6, Mr. Theodorou launched a fierce attack on Marinos Sizopoulos, stating that the president of EDEK has gone against the concept of law, against the concept of democracy, against justice and has resorted to tricks and cleverness in order to deceive him. where he wants to be. He added that “you can not be a leader with tricks”, and cited the recent conference as an example, with the excuse that it is a continuation of the previous conference. “Sizopoulos brought many evils and threw EDEK in Tartarus, in terms of seriousness and credibility, but also management”, stressed Mr. Theodorou, and said that unity in the party must be restored. He, he said, supports the resistance to the arbitrariness of Marinos Sizopoulos, the resistance to the attempts to transform EDEK, the resistance to behaviors of financial irregularity and to anti-democratic methods. “I support every effort that will bring what we all expect: unity. Unity is a candidate issue. “There are people in EDEK who gather all the necessary data, who are accepted to bring what we call unity within EDEK”, he pointed out. “Whoever comes tomorrow should keep the party united,” he said characteristically, referring to the name of MP Kostis Efstathiou. Revanchist behaviors & # 8211; revenge can not lead to the rebirth of EDEK. They lead to the perpetuation of an unacceptable division, he stressed.
For his part, EDEK MEP Dimitris Papadakis returned yesterday to argue that only with a democratic congress that will attract the vast majority of EDEK members will legality return to the party and that is the goal of the EED initiative for salvation. as he argued. The MEP said that when Mr. Sizopoulos talks about a sad minority, “he obviously means himself and those around him.”
Iliadis' reaction to the MOE
Marios Iliadis, the independent candidate for the presidency, is an ardent supporter of the need for communication between the two communities. Therefore, as the independent candidate for the presidency noted in a written statement, he is not opposed by the CMOs proposed by the President of the Republic to the Turkish Cypriot side.
Referring to the letter sent by the President of the Republic to Presidential candidate Ersin Tatar, the presidential candidate, noted that a similar initiative should have been taken a long time ago. “The undertaking on our part by other initiatives that seek to break the current impasse in the Cyprus issue and to create conditions for the resumption of the dialogue between the two sides should have been done in consultation with the political forces for a long time and we really wonder why they have not been done so far. Marios Iliadis in the written statement asks that the full content of this letter of Anastasiadis to Tatar be made public in order to inform the people about what exactly we are proposing and to find out if this is moving in the direction of a substantial attempt to break the current impasse.
