AKEL has a difficult congress

Demetris Christofias was re-elected General Secretary of the the Cyprus communist party and main coalition partner AKEL, ending a diffcult 20th party congress that began on Thursday.

Christofias, who had no rival, was elected with 92 votes in favour, four against and seven blank votes.

In usual communist style, key AKEL members were made to recant publicly for going against the party line and supporting the UN plan to reunite the island last year which AKEL had urged members to reject.

The main issue during the conference was whether AKEL would again back the incumbent president, Tassos Papadopoulos, in the presidential elections in 2008.

The sharp difference of opinion between Papadopoulos, whose political roots lie in the nationalist right, and AKEL over the approach to the Cyprus problem have come to the fore in recent weeks.

With Papadopoulos losing popular support and reportedly enjoying much lower popularity than other presidents at this stage of the electoral cycle, AKEL is concerned that its support for Papadopoulos will cost it votes in the parliamentary elections in 2006.

According to Financial Mirror sources, the real decision on whether or not to support Papadopoulos will be taken then.

For the first time, the party is givinb serious consideration to putting forward a candidate of its own, with some supporting the candidacy of Christofias.