By Martin Hellicar
WHEN the dust finally settled on Sunday’s parliamentary elections with the long-delayed announcement of the final list of winning candidates in the very early hours yesterday, no fewer than 23 new faces had come onto the scene.
This 41 per cent renewal of the 56-seat House owes much to governing DISY, who will begin the new parliamentary session on June 7 with no fewer than 10 new deputies, more than half of their 19-seat parliamentary team.
AKEL chipped in with six new deputies and DIKO with three, while newcomers ADIK, New Horizons and the Green party supplied one new face each.
The biggest names among those falling by the wayside on Sunday were Andreas Parisinos and Katy Clerides of DISY, Takis Hadjidemetriou of KISOS and Stathis Kittis of DIKO.
Both Parisinos and President Clerides’ daughter Katy lost their seats by narrow margins. They were both well-respected members of the outgoing parliament. Parisinos rose above the stigma of having served under the 1974 coupist government to do what was generally accepted to have been a sterling job as chairman of the House Health Committee. Family connections aside, Katy Clerides was known as a highly active deputy, making her presence felt in a number of House committees.
She had been among DISY voters’ favourite choices in the 1996 parliamentary elections. Katy Clerides yesterday attributed her failure to the DISY electorate’s desire for renewal. She also said it would be a “mistake” to interpret her rejection as an attempt by DISY voters to hit out at her father.
Hadjidemetriou’s failure was as bizarre as it was unexpected. The long- serving socialist deputy won the highest number of preference votes for his party but failed to make the cut because only one KISOS deputy got in the Nicosia constituency: party leader Dr Vassos Lyssarides.
Kittis’ defeat was a bitter blow for both the party and the man himself. A DIKO heavyweight and an established member of the House, Kittis was expected to have little difficulty regaining his seat.
Another notable defeat was that of United Democrats leader and former President George Vassiliou, who failed to make the cut in Famagusta.
Notable amongst the first timers are Eleni Mavrou and Sotiroulla Charalambous, the first women deputies ever elected for AKEL. Also coming in for AKEL is Agis Agapiou, the son of veteran AKEL deputy and human rights campaigner Yiannakis Agapiou. Agapiou senior did not seek re- election.
New recruits for DISY include the son of recently deceased coup president Nicos Sampson, Sotiris, and Eleni Theocharous, the director of paediatrics at the Makarios Hospital in Nicosia. Also making it into parliament for DISY is lawyer Nicos Tornaritis, the brother of the owner of Olympiacos football club, Christoforos Tornaritis.
At 72, Aristos Chrysostomou of DIKO is the oldest first time deputy.
Dinos Michaelides, of ADIK, is counted among parliament’s new faces, but can hardly be considered a newcomer to the political scene. Michaelides served as Interior Minister under two governments before being forced to resign in the face of corruption allegations two years ago.
