Blow to Akel as deputy turns independent

THERE was bad news for main opposition party Akel yesterday, with one of its deputies announcing he was jumping ship to become an independent.

In a letter sent to House President Spyros Kyprianou on Thursday and made public yesterday, Nicosia deputy Andreas Philippou said he was leaving the left-wing party for "political and ideological reasons."

Philippou did not explain his reasons further in the letter and could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

The deputy does note in his letter that he was never a member of the original Akel party and only came on board after the party merged with smaller left-wing groups to become Akel-New Forces before the 1996 parliamentary elections.

Philippou is not abandoning his House seat, and will remain in parliament as an independent deputy, despite having been elected on an Akel ticket in 1996.

This loss of a seat is bound to have irked Akel, as it reduces the party to 18 seats to governing Disy’s 21 in the 56-member House. Right-wing Disy will still not enjoy a majority in the House, as Diko’s nine deputies and the Social democrats’ five are also in opposition.

Nonetheless, Akel yesterday appeared keen to keep Philippou on side, issuing an announcement which stressed that the parting of ways had been anything but acrimonious and that Philippou was still a "friend" of Akel-New Forces.

The party announcement stated that Akel leader Demetris Christofias was certain Philippou would continue to "support" Akel "efforts" both within and outside parliament.

Philippou met with Christofias to hand him a copy of his withdrawal letter yesterday.

Christofias was "sorry" to see Philippou go and had tried to get him to re-consider, but to no avail, the Akel statement added.

Philippou, according to Akel, reassured Christofias he would remain a "friend" of the party.

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