Democratic Rally (DISY) leaders called for unity on Monday as the party prepares to choose its candidate for the 2028 presidential elections, after party leader Annita Demetriou withdrew from the race for the nomination.
The party’s leadership discussed the new situation at its weekly meeting and agreed that DISY must turn the page and work together for unity. In a statement, it described Demetriou’s decision as one of responsibility and a victory for DISY. By putting the collective interest above her own bid, she had ensured that everyone would take part in the party’s procedures and back whichever candidate the members chose, it said. This laid the foundations for a united course towards the 2028 elections.
“Unity is the necessary precondition for us to fight this battle with ambition,” the statement said, adding that every contender would have an equal right to take part and that the members would have the final say. It urged officials to keep the debate respectful and avoid speculation and personal jibes.
Michalis Ioannides, head of the Government Work Monitoring Council, told Sigma TV on Monday that he would back Giorgos Pamborides in the internal elections. He voiced displeasure at how former DISY leader Averof Neofytou had handled his candidacy, but when asked whether Neofytou had effectively blackmailed the party, he declined to use the term. “I don’t use such expressions, nor do I want to use them,” he said.
Kyriakos Kousios told ANT1 that Demetriou’s decision to withdraw was bold, serious and responsible, because she had put the party’s unity above her personal ambitions. He acknowledged that Demetriou had repeatedly denied being pressured, but went further. “I have no reason not to accept that position, but she certainly suffered, at the very least, political blackmail,” he said.
Kousios cited Pamborides’s accounts of a meeting at DISY headquarters, claiming it had been made clear that Neofytou would not take part in the party’s internal procedures if Demetriou remained a candidate.
MEP Loucas Fourlas ruled out seeking the nomination in a written statement on Monday. He said the latest developments in DISY had created an unpleasant image of the party, as well as a new situation that required everyone to take a stance with seriousness, responsibility and clarity.
After Demetriou’s decision, Fourlas said, party officials and ordinary members had urged him to consider running, but he had chosen to continue serving the public. “I was never interested in claiming any high office,” he said, repeating a position he had stated before.
