Election campaign comes to a close with final call to voters

By Melina Demetriou

THE Parliamentary election campaign came to a close yesterday ahead of tomorrow’s vote, with parties leaving the pre-election battlefield after delivering their last messages to voters before the big day.

Parties and voters now have a day to sit back before the elections, which will be contested by 454 candidates — 368 men and 86 women — competing for 56 seats in the House of Representatives and representing eight parties. Only five parties were represented in the outgoing House.

Opposition AKEL leader Demetris Christofias yesterday appeared confident, boosted by opinion polls suggesting his party will be the largest in the next parliament.

“I know for sure that AKEL will secure a bigger percentage of the vote than in the last elections in 1996. But only after the counting of votes we will know whether DISY will lose seats and whether we will be the largest party. I am not stressed out though,” Christofias said.

In the last elections, DISY garnered 34.5 per cent of the vote and AKEL 33 per cent.

DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday described these elections as “the most critical elections since the Cyprus Republic was founded,” urging disappointed voters not to cast a blank vote.

“Cyprus will join the EU in a couple of years. Elect those ones who will back the country’s accession. The EU is our future, the future of our children and our security,” Anastassiades said.

DIKO leader Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday appeared optimistic that his party would be the one pulling the strings after the elections.

“We, the centre party which bridges the gap between the two poles, represent the voice of the people,” he claimed.

Vassos Lyssarides, leader of Social Democratic party KISOS, called on people to cast their vote keeping in mind national interests.

“You must trust us because in co-operation with (Greek ruling socialist party) PASOK, we can represent the country in Europe and strengthen the voice of Cyprus,” Lyssarides pledged.

The KISOS leader stressed that his party was faithful to a stable ideology and “our actions are in line with our words.”

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.