Spyros re-elected to Diko leadership

SPYROS Kyprianou was re-elected leader of the centre-right Democratic Party, Diko, on Sunday, garnering three-quarters of the vote.

Kyprianou, who has been Diko leader since the party was founded more than 20 years ago, obtained 1,041 votes against 187 to Michalakis Kyprianou and 133 to Nicos Papadopoulos.

Speaking after the election, the first in which Kyprianou was ever challenged, the Diko leader said: “What is important is that the electoral conference took place in a democratic atmosphere, and I believe Diko is the winner of this contest.”

Kyprianou said he was completely satisfied with the results, considering “the war which had been waged against him”.

But rival Michalakis Kyprianou (no relation) said the results of the election showed that, in a way, the Diko leader had failed, adding that one in four party members had voted against him.

He also complained that the challengers in the election had been unable to carry out a proper campaign.

Newly-elected party vice president Nicos Cleanthous said yesterday it was time for the party to pull together, get back in touch with its grass roots and try to increase its membership.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.