Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos has expressed his readiness to stand for re-election in February’s presidential elections, provided that the parties that support the government approve his candidacy, the three main parties that back the government have announced.
The announcement came after a lunch on Tuesday, hosted by the President, during which all four participating parties discussed issues pertaining to the 2008 presidential elections.
A written statement, issued by the General Secretary of the left-wing AKEL party Demetris Christofias, the government’s main partner, said that “President Papadopoulos has expressed his readiness to seek re-election, provided that the parties that cooperate with the government endorse his candidacy.â€
Christofias also said that “it was decided that the parties assess the pre-election programme relating to the question of Cyprus and domestic issues.â€
AKEL, he added, “wishes to see this cooperation continue and will work towards this direction without prejudging any candidacy. Party organs will meet to decide on the matter and this will culminate at the party congress.â€
The leader of the Democratic Party (DIKO) Marios Karoyan, which Papadopoulos headed for the past few years, welcomed the President’s readiness to seek re-election as a positive development.
He said the party collective organs will meet in due course to take their final decision on the matter, adding that DIKO believes that so far most of the programme of governance, agreed by the three parties when they backed Papadopoulos in 2003, has already been achieved.
This, he said, is a solid foundation to continue the cooperation among the parties.
The Social Democrats Movement EDEK, headed by Yiannakis Omirou, said in a statement that President Papadopoulos and the leaders of all three political parties that support the government want to continue the existing cooperation for the next five years (the president’s term in office).
“Following the recent decision by the Political Bureau of EDEK to suggest to the party Central Committee to support Papadopoulos’ candidacy, in the forthcoming elections, we shall wait for the official announcement of his candidacy,†the statement added.
The Secretary General of the Environmentalist Movement George Perdikis, which has afforded support to the government of President Papadopoulos, in his remarks on developments concerning the presidential elections, said that he was not upset that the Movement was not invited to the lunch hosted by Papadopoulos.
“However I believe that it was wrong on their part to embark on such a process, it is their problem and let them sort it out by themselves. As far as we are concerned, everything is open with regard to possible cooperation for the elections,†he said on Tuesday.
Presidential elections are to take place in February next year. So far only one person, former minister of agriculture, Kostas Themistocleous has officially announced his candidacy but it is widely expected that former foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides will follow suit.
