DIKO, EDEK favour Christofias – will their voters follow?
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The 465,000 voters who cast their ballots last Sunday will return this Sunday to choose between Ioannis Kassoulides and Demetris Christofias, two moderates from opposing ideological camps who are expected to initiate new efforts to help resolve the protracted
The two candidates who garnered 33,51% and 33,29% of the votes, respectively, in the first round of the presidential elections that saw incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos ousted in an unexpected turnout, are trying to woo the voters who gave the president the 31,8% of the votes in what was seen as the closest election race so far.
The socialist democrat EDEK party decided on Monday to support Christofias, forcing the two candidates to start a bargaining race to sway the voters from the centre-right Democratic Party (DIKO) that had hoped to see Papadopoulos make it to the second round.
Regardless of what the DIKO leadership tells its members to do, the rank-and-file are expected to go on sentiment, some not forgiving communist AKEL leader Christofias of denying Papadopoulos a second term, others not willing to give the DISY-backed Kassoulides the satisfaction of returning to office after the Clerides administration lost five years ago.
DIKO’s party secretariat initially proposed on Tuesday to endorse Kassoulides. This was followed by a marathon session of the party’s executive committee late in the afternoon, where the two candidates’ written positions on ways to achieve a
Some reports suggested that interventions from the Presidential Palace forced the executive committee to change its mind and opt for Christofias.
The matter finally went to the 200-strong central committee where a heated debate clearly showed signs of division among the party faithful, despite the party chairman, Marios Karoyian, proposing to endorse Christofias.
A secret ballot at midnight resulted in 60% favouring Christofias and 30% for Kassoulides, with the rest against both candidates.
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Raising hopes of peace deal
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Tassos Papadopoulos’ unexpected electoral defeat in the first round opened the February 24 runoff to the two candidates who are seeking swift resumption of reunification talks — a move that could help European Union aspirant
“A historic era has officially ended… with Papadopoulos the last of the Mohicans,” wrote the Simerini newspaper in a front-page editorial.
Politis newspaper similarly resorted to imagery, taking its cue from cartoons. Ioannis Kassoulides and Demetris Christofias were portrayed as road runners, with Papadopoulos as Wile E Coyote slamming into a rock.
Both Kassoulides, 59, and Christofias, 62, pledge a more conciliatory approach towards Turkish Cypriots in the north and have said they will pursue meetings with its leadership if elected.
The last peace effort collapsed in 2004 when Papadopoulos, elected a year earlier, led the Greek Cypriot rejection of a United Nations blueprint for reunification. Christofias and the communist coalition partner AKEL had rejected the plan then, and Kassoulides’ Democratic Rally party had supported it.
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Wooing the Papadopoulos votes
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Both sides sought the backing of Papadopoulos’ supporters to seal victory. There was no indication on how the president would swing, refraining from endorsing either candidate.
Reports of bargaining suggested that Kassoulides had held out an olive branch to the Papadopoulos camp, offering EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou the post of foreign minister.
Papadopoulos was elected in 2003 with support from Christofias, but DIKO, founded by the Health Commissioner’s father, Spyros Kyprianou, had also supported right-wingers in past elections.
Mediators are expected to take the pulse for the resumption of talks this year, a possibility which could bode well for
Its EU membership talks were partially suspended in 2006 over its refusal to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic.
