Socialist Omirou elected new Cyprus House president

Yiannakis Omirou, president of the socialist EDEK party, was elected president of the 56-seat House of Representatives on Thursday with the 28 votes of the main opposition Democratic Rally, his own EDEK, two from the European Party Evroko and Zacharias Koulias, MP for the coalition partner Democratic Party (DIKO).
The outgoing president of the House, DIKO leader Marios Garoyian and Green Party MP George Perdikis were also candidates.
Garoyian got 27 votes from the DIKO MPs and the ruling communist AKEL, while Perdikis had just one vote and withdrew his candidacy.
In his acceptance speech, Omirou sent a message to the Turkish Cypriots and welcomed their demonstrations against the occupation guardianship of Turkey, and called on Turkey and those encouraging or tolerating her ''to understand that forming conditions of safety, peace, stability and cooperation in the broader region demands the lifting of the illegality and the solution of the Cyprus problem.''
He also assured that the House will work ''with a sense of responsibility to address the adverse effects'' of the global financial crisis on the economy of Cyprus.