Akel stokes the fires of protest within Disy

By Charlie Charalambous

AKEL refuelled the reshuffle row within Disy yesterday by claiming the ruling party will back George Vassiliou in the 2003 presidential elections.

Disy rank-and-file members are up in arms because they feel their party sold out during the recent cabinet reshuffle in which the United Democrats did surprisingly well.

Senior Akel member Nicos Katsourides said last Tuesday’s reshuffle had more to do with an election power play than serving the immediate needs of party and country.

Katsourides claimed that Disy and United Democrats boss Vassiliou had done a deal which would see the ruling party support his presidential election bid.

He said the fact the United Democrats secured the government spokesman’s position (Michalis Papapetrou) and the health ministry (Frixos Savvides) at the expense of Disy candidates was proof of an election pact.

The United Democrats also held on to the agriculture ministry (Costas Themistocleous) in the reshuffle, and Vassiliou remains the island’s EU negotiator.

But Eleni Vrahimi of Disy’s political office yesterday dismissed Akel’s interpretation of the reshuffle as “pure fantasy”.

She also said the party was satisfied with the reshuffle and “not disappointed” over the choice of candidates.

Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades has come under fire from party dissenters angered at the number of cabinet seats junior coalition partner UD secured.

“Mr Anastassiades is running the internal politics of the country while George Vassiliou is making decisions on the Cyprus problem and Europe,” claimed Katsourides yesterday.

Prominent Disy deputies such as Prodromos Prodromou and Demetris Syllouris described the bartering over cabinet posts as a sham and undemocratic.

Panayiotis Demetriou, the Disy vice president, has taken on the role of mediator in an effort to prevent further rifts within a party currently finding it difficult to present a united front.

Opposition parties have been quick to make capital from the reshuffle, portraying President Clerides as a man who has lost control and influence at the seat of power.

Clerides has been accused of taking too concessionary an approach to the Cyprus problem, an accusation he himself levelled at his predecessor George Vassiliou when he ousted him from office in the 1993 presidential election.

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