DISY’s leadership urged party leader Annita Demetriou at a meeting today at its Pindarou headquarters to declare her interest in becoming its presidential candidate, and many told her to do so immediately.
Demetriou is expected to announce her decision officially by mid-October, when the process is expected to open. She will not do so while the UN General Assembly is under way in New York or while immediate developments on the Cyprus problem are possible.
Philenews understands that all those who spoke shared the view that her candidacy has the best chance of winning the presidential election, and that she therefore has to put it to party members.
Timetable and procedure
Leadership members differ on when the procedures should finish. The majority leans towards DISY having its candidate, whoever that is, by the end of the year, while another view is that they should be completed by March.
The final decision on the timetable and procedure will be taken first at leadership level, then by the party’s Executive Bureau and Political Bureau. The process will begin with the submission of interest and, if there is more than one candidate, the setting of a date for the party vote. All party members will have a vote, in line with the party statute.
Tornaritis
On Nikos Tornaritis, the position that prevailed was not to pursue the matter, since everyone makes their own choices. If and when the party picks its presidential candidate, everyone who sits on its collective bodies will have to back the DISY candidate. Tornaritis, a former parliament member, is a member of the Political Bureau and can keep taking part, although he is not expected to attend meetings.
Party line
It was also made clear that the party must keep speaking with a single, clear voice on all policy issues, putting forward its own positions and stressing its differences with President Nikos Christodoulides and his government where it disagrees.
Mood at the meeting
Kris Triantafyllides, head of DISY’s Legal Council, and communications specialist Panos Tsiridis also attended. The mood was very good, philenews understands, with Efthymios Diplaros and Giannis Karousos each saying they have no problem with the other. The two had met over dinner after a third party stepped in, settling their differences.
