Former DISY leader Averof Neofytou and Giorgos Pamborides both pledged to unite behind whoever wins the party’s nomination for the 2028 presidential election, as the race formally opened at midday on Monday with the close of candidacies.
Party members will choose between them on Saturday, November 28, in what DISY says will be the first open vote of its kind in its history. The electoral committee appointed by the party’s Executive Bureau confirmed that both candidacies were valid, and the Political Bureau set the date.
The bigger stake, and the bigger worry, is the day after: whether DISY goes into the presidential election united behind the winner. Until the vote, the party’s Pindarou Street headquarters wants the campaign kept within reasonable political bounds and in a mild tone, and a message of unity sent once the polls close.
The candidates’ messages
Both candidates used their statements to send messages, some veiled and some open.
Neofytou, speaking outside the building because of the crowd, said: “We are here to elect the next President of the Republic and bring change.” The remark signalled that DISY must go into the election aiming to win, and can be read as an indirect reply to talk of cooperation in a second round.
He called on both candidates and the whole DISY camp to respect the result and work together behind whoever is nominated. In effect, he was signalling that he would stand by the candidate even if he lost, and that he expected the same of everyone else.
He also described DISY as his family, the party in which he grew up politically and in which he has helped raise generations of politicians, and repeated that he would never hurt its people. This was, in effect, an assurance that he would not turn against the party.
Pamborides said: “I am particularly moved today that I submitted my candidacy.” He recalled first walking through DISY’s doors in 1981 and said he was confident the party would come out of the contest stronger.
He said he looked forward to a quality electoral process and signalled that he expected the party machinery to guarantee the integrity of the result, a remark that puts the spotlight on the machinery’s responsibility for running the vote. He also welcomed Neofytou’s statement on unity after the vote, saying he endorsed it so that DISY could go into the 2028 election united and seek Cypriot society’s trust once again.
Arrivals and absences
Neofytou arrived on foot with his wife, Maria Selipa, to applause and chants from supporters who had gathered from every district, among them parliament members Charalambos Pazaros and Nikos Georgiou. Pamborides arrived with his wife, Galateia, ten minutes before candidacies closed, with nobody accompanying them. He made a brief statement inside without taking questions and left.
DISY leader Annita Demetriou and the rest of the leadership stayed away, keeping out of the process and at an equal distance from both candidates. Beyond neutrality, they may also have wanted to show that this was no more than an internal party procedure. Party officials said Demetriou had commitments and meetings at parliament. Deputy leader Efthymios Diplaros is abroad.
The candidates were received by veteran DISY figure Panayiotis Demetriou and Xenia Konstantinou, both members of the party’s electoral committee.
Both had submitted the required declarations of support to the party’s Organisational Directorate for vetting on October 23.
