Giorgos Pamborides, who is seeking DISY’s nomination for the presidential elections, has described his rival Averof Neofytou as “a creature of the system” who has acted throughout his career as a protector of established interests.
Speaking on philenews’s political vidcast to journalist Frixos Dalitis on Monday, Pamborides said that although he saw himself as the outsider, he was convinced that if he won the nomination he would take the party into the second round and win the election.
He set out what he saw as the three questions at stake: whether DISY’s candidate could unite the party’s centrifugal forces, which candidate could reach the second round and avoid a repeat of what happened to the party in 2023, and which could win the presidency. He argued that his own victory in the internal contest would answer all three.
GHS clash
Pamborides, who points to the creation of the General Health System (GHS) during his time as health minister as his political legacy, said Neofytou’s stance had been shown by their clash over the reform. Neofytou had been on the other side, siding with those who then ran the health system at society’s expense, he said.
Their disagreements were fundamental, he added, and were the reason he did not support Neofytou in the 2023 presidential election. The two had also disagreed on the Cyprus problem, sanctions on Russia and energy.
He argued that someone who had held every position of power for 35 years had made clear who he was and what direction he was taking, and should have been able to do what he wanted in that time.
Asked how he voted in 2023, Pamborides declined to say, explaining that he had acted as a private citizen. He held no political post, was not a DISY official and had stepped back since 2019, after a rift within the party, he said. He had not supported Neofytou, but had not told members of his family not to vote for him.
He said that if he were the candidate and opposed DISY’s positions, he would not win the party’s votes and might weaken its unity.
New versus traditional
Pamborides acknowledged that he was the outsider but said his message should give DISY members pause for thought. He framed the choice as one between turning the page and remaining hostage to the past, comparing it to choosing between a conventional and an electric car. He was proposing something new, he said, and Neofytou the traditional.
He told the vidcast he had nothing personal against Neofytou and that the two simply offered different policies. He would support Neofytou if DISY members chose him and would respect their decision, he said, and called on Neofytou to make his own position clear.
Asked about the possibility that party members might back Neofytou to stop him from bidding for the party leadership in future, Pamborides said such manoeuvres were part of everyday politics and that backstabbing among comrades was very common. He said he did not think in such long-term tactical terms.
Radical centre-right
Pamborides said the core of his platform was a radical centre-right politics. Developments in recent years had made the traditional divisions between right, left and centre outdated to some extent, he said, but ideology still mattered, as a party could not address society without it.
He argued that the European centre-right had become more of a problem than a solution for European societies and needed to adopt bold, society-focused practices. While staying committed to the free economy and the power of the market, it had to explain that the aim was not to create wealth for a few but economic activity for the benefit of all, he said. He added that society should benefit from the work of capable people.
Asked what he would do differently from the government of President Nikos Christodoulides, he said it was trying to move towards the centre-right, strengthening the market while safeguarding social gains, but described its approach as conservative. Cyprus was moving forward at a tortoise’s pace, held back by a marked conservatism and fears, and was shutting society out of the opportunities around it, he said.
The radical centre-right, he said, was about a social system trying to overcome stagnation and break up established interests.
Pamborides also said there was no question of challenging DISY’s leadership, which had been elected recently and had not yet had the chance to show what it could do. He expressed hope that it would be able to do so within the next year.
