POLITICS: Commissioner posting paves Cyprus ruling party changes

The appointment of MEP Christos Stylianides as the next Commissioner from Cyprus has created a change of events that should usher in some changes to the ruling Democratic Rally’s hierarchy.

With Stylianides moving to Brussels to take charge of the Internet and Culture portfolio, his place in the European Parliament will be taken up the runner up in the May 25 elections, party deputy leader Lefteris Christoforou.
However, it is not as simple as the DISY runner up in the Cyprus parliamentary elections taking a seat in the House of Representatives.
First of all, the change will trigger an inter-party vote, probably within 30 days of Christoforou resigning his seat in Nicosia and becoming MEP, as the post of deputy leader can only be filled by election. Unless if there is only one candidate and he or she is not challenged, thereby getting the job.
Christoforou also chairs the all-important House Commerce Committee, a role assigned to the ruling DISY party in the usual musical chairs among parliamentary groups and one that any incumbent MP will desire in an effort to rise up the party ranks.
The deputy Committee chairman at the moment is DISY’s MP Zacharias Zachariou who will want the hot seat for himself and propel himself into the public view as the Committee deals with the crucial issues of trade, tourism and energy, the three main driving forces of the island’s economy and its struggle to recover.
The parliamentary seat will probably go to a younger generation DISY footsoldier, Evgenios Hamboullas, who was second line, but with runner-up Christoforos Fokaides appointed Defence Minister earlier this year, Hamboullas has moved up one place and could be the newcomer MP.