Direct Democracy Cyprus leader Fidias Panayiotou has reportedly sounded out political parties on a joint candidacy for the February 2028 presidential election, proposing that they back businessman John Christodoulou or Mike Spanos.
The parties Panayiotou, an MEP, approached reportedly included AKEL. He also raised the two names with other parties but received no response, as every party except DISY is still at a preliminary stage of its preparations.
Phileleftheros understands that both men have very good relations with Panayiotou and his party. Spanos represented Direct Democracy Cyprus at the first session of the National Council after the party entered parliament, though Panayiotou attended later sessions himself. Christodoulou has been a guest on Panayiotou’s podcast.
One of the two is already among the names in circulation for the election, while the other came close to running as AKEL’s candidate in 2018.
AKEL
AKEL general secretary Stefanos Stefanou said on Monday that the party had not sounded out any candidates and had not yet entered that phase.
Speaking on Alpha TV’s midday programme, he said he had never met economist Tasos Yiasemides, although he was familiar with his articles, and remarked that he would struggle to recognise him if he saw him in the street.
Yiasemides, who comes from EDEK and is a former member of its political bureau, has drawn attention after reports about him and after he left open the possibility of running when asked to comment. A group of EDEK political bureau members asked party president Sofia Christodoulou Makri for a briefing, after information emerged that AKEL and EDEK had discussed cooperating in the election. Phileleftheros understands that EDEK has not been sounded out, but that it is one of the parties with which AKEL wants to explore cooperation, and that Yiasemides is a name that could be discussed.
Stefanou said he could neither rule out nor put forward Andreas Mavroyiannis, whom AKEL backed in the 2023 presidential election, at this stage, as talks with other parties have not been completed. He also left open the possibility that AKEL could back a woman, saying no such restrictions had been set. Names are being floated and will continue to be, he said, since a presidential election cannot be held without a candidate.
The name of former University of Cyprus rector Tasos Christofides is also in circulation in party circles. He was floated as a possible candidate before the 2018 and 2023 elections as well.
DISY
DISY spokesman Onoufrios Koulla was asked on Omega TV’s midday programme on Monday about former DISY leader Averof Neofytou’s call for President Nikos Christodoulides to raise the lifting of energy sanctions against Russia at the next European Council.
Koulla said whoever wins the party’s nomination would agree a joint programme with it, but that this does not mean there would be no disagreements. Neofytou would have to accept that “DISY disagrees with his proposal” if he were the party’s candidate and kept to that position, he said. There could also be bills on which DISY disagrees, as had happened before, he added.
Asked whether the party’s candidate could take a different position on such a basic principle, Koulla said that if Neofytou ended up as DISY’s candidate, he would have to explain his position himself, but that this would not concern the party. He drew a parallel with AKEL, which he said had made the same argument for years.
AKEL’s Stefanou, meanwhile, distanced his party from Neofytou’s proposal on Alpha TV. He said AKEL had not called for sanctions to be lifted, but believes the European Union should focus on finding a political and diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine.
