A long-overdue mea culpa hangs in the air — owed by all of us who believed in, and argued for, seriousness in politics. By everyone who said with confidence “yes, the others are better,” every time a vote for one of the various odd characters presenting themselves as political Don Quixotes was held up as a counterargument.
They presented themselves as modern-day revolutionaries, with social media as their weapon of choice. They built on the naive thinking of certain people, or on the anger that a grinding daily reality produces. Through them, plenty of people saw doors opening — a chance to become part of the very system they supposedly wanted to dismantle.
So: a long-overdue sorry to those who were persuaded that politics could continue to function on political terms. Unfortunately, events suggest otherwise.
In the days leading up to the election, I watched the statements and campaign positions of Annita Demetriou, Efthymios Diplaros, and other DISY figures, as well as politicians from other parties. They warned of the dangers that, in their view, a strong showing by new parties would create in parliament — parties like Fidias Panayiotou’s Direct Democracy Cyprus, ALMA, and various smaller parties.
That concern was, and remains, legitimate and serious. Annita Demetriou spoke of the need to preserve the country’s stability. Efthymios Diplaros issued stark warnings about the dangers we would face if such forces prevailed.
Society, however, showed its own maturity — and gave the traditional parties one more chance to salvage whatever remained of their political credibility. To project seriousness. To adopt a posture of political responsibility and give citizens back some reason for hope. A sign that they had understood the election’s message and recognised the very reasons they themselves had been warning about before polling day.
The backstage manoeuvring that followed — from election night through to the agreement on the House Speakership — was the first political act of the new landscape. An act sealed by the now-notorious video of Annita Demetriou with Fidias Panayiotou.
It was a development that, understandably, provoked reactions and criticism — including within DISY’s own ranks. But the most troubling part is the attempt by certain quarters to justify that choice in the language of political inclusivity. No doubt we can expect more such arguments in the weeks ahead.
In 2021, DISY normalised ELAM — when Annita Demetriou’s election as House Speaker was made possible in part by that party’s votes. In the eyes of a section of the DISY electorate, ELAM was thereby recast as “the other right.” It is a narrative ELAM has been exploiting ever since, and one DISY keeps finding in its path.
In 2026, the process went a step further. What was normalised this time was the depoliticisation of politics itself, and political opportunism. And that is something that will come back to haunt not only DISY, but Annita Demetriou personally.
To close this chapter: we do not consider it inherently problematic that a dialogue took place with Direct Democracy Cyprus. It is a party that received a popular mandate and now sits in parliament. Before the election some treated it as a threat; after the election it proved useful to certain people.
The issue is not that talks happened. The issue is how those talks became a political agreement — and how politics ended up submitting to the terms and logic of a party that, just days earlier, had been presented as a danger to the country’s stability.
In the full picture of our political decline, though, all the facts must be examined. The deal that was struck via DISY headquarters could equally have been struck with DIKO and Nikolas Papadopoulos — had the demand for that particular video not extended to members of the government.
Which brings us, finally, to the self-styled revolutionaries of the campaign period — the supposed agents of change. Fidias Panayiotou rushed to cash in politically on his support for Annita Demetriou. Odysseas Michaelides rushed to hitch ALMA to AKEL.
In plain terms: both ended up functioning as political satellites of the two big systemic parties. The very same parties they made such a noise about coming to fight.
Get well soon — all of us.
