Staff Reporter
FORMER Diko vice president Alexis Galanos, throwing the gauntlet at party president Spyros Kyprianou, said yesterday he stood by his criticism of the party leadership and would not bow to “intellectual terrorism”.
The outburst came the day after Galanos gave a fiercely critical interview to Phileleftheros newspaper castigating his party and its leadership for leading supporters into deadlock over the presidential elections.
Speaking to reporters at the House of Representatives, Galanos spoke of orchestrated efforts to issue open letters against him with the ultimate aim of forcing him into resigning from Diko.
He dismissed these anticipated ‘protests’ as an attempt to disorientate and deflect attention from the real situation within the party.
He defended his comments to Phileleftheros, including the remark that “Kyprianou is obsessed by the passion for power”.
“I only repeated what Mr Kyprianou has said on several occasions on television about his passion for the presidency. And I voiced some of my conclusions, which is within the rights of everyone’s free speech,” he said.
Galanos said he sensed an attempt to muzzle him and exercise intellectual terrorism against anyone who expresses a critical view.
“My conscience is clear. I believe I am expressing the views of the vast majority of the grassroots of Diko. My advice to Mr Kyprianou, whom I supported from very early on, from the days when the Greek junta was trying to exercise intellectual terrorism against him, is to take the necessary unifying action in the party and to enter into consultations with all Diko members,” Galanos said.
Kyprianou must show he can tolerate constructive criticism, and not accept only praise and flattery, he added.
Galanos has had numerous run-ins with Kyprianou recently. In his controversial interview on Sunday, the Diko deputy for Famagusta said the party was not Kyprianou’s private or exclusive club. And he said he was convinced Diko has been split in two – half would vote for Glafcos Clerides irrespective of what Kyprianou said, while the other half would never vote for the incumbent president.
Galanos also called for a change in leadership at Diko and for Kyprianou to accept his responsibilities because he had “misunderstood the party as being his”.
