DISY is facing one of the most serious internal crises in its history, with fears of another split growing as tensions surrounding the 2028 presidential election intensify.
The turmoil has drawn comparisons inside the party with the divisions over the Annan Plan in 2004 and the 2003 presidential election, when Alecos Markides ran against Glafcos Clerides.
The prospect of another rupture is now visible, while tensions inside and around the party headquarters remain high. Concern has spread among DISY figures over where the confrontation could lead.
Veteran party officials have sought in recent days to mediate in an attempt to find a consensual solution and prevent a further escalation, although no concrete breakthrough has so far emerged.
The crisis extends beyond the question of who will secure DISY’s nomination for the presidential election. Personal political agendas and tensions have increasingly overshadowed collective decision-making and policy discussions.
The positive mood that followed the party’s parliamentary election result has been replaced by internal manoeuvring and frustration.
Neofytou raises the stakes
The first major escalation came when former DISY leader Averof Neofytou announced his presidential candidacy last Sunday, confirming a move he had been preparing in the preceding days.
A second confrontation followed over a dinner at a Nicosia fish restaurant attended by Neofytou, DISY leader Annita Demetriou, Politis publisher Chris Panayiotou and the newspaper’s director, Dionysis Dionysiou.
Neofytou claimed that a very close associate of Demetriou proposed that he help her secure the presidency of parliament and that DISY would subsequently support him as its candidate for the presidential election. He later identified Panayiotou as the person who made the proposal.
Panayiotou and Dionysiou have given a different account, describing the gathering as a social dinner of the kind that commonly takes place between media executives and politicians. Panayiotou has publicly denied that any agreement over the 2028 presidential election was reached.
Demetriou’s camp has also categorically rejected the claim that such a discussion took place in her presence. Demetriou later said that no commitment had been made in front of her.
What is undisputed is that the four attended the dinner. What was said there, and in what capacity those present were speaking, remains contested.
