OUTGOING House President Spyros Kyprianou yesterday gave a farewell reception to parliamentary correspondents, one day before the election of his replacement.
In an emotionally charged atmosphere in the House, Kyprianou officially ended his over 30-year-old career in politics with an address to the media, with whom he has always co-operated closely.
Kyprianou has been House President for the last five years and served as Foreign Minister to Makarios, taking over as President of the Republic after the Archbishop’s death before being elected for two consecutive terms between 1980 and 1990. He founded DIKO in 1976 and chaired it for 34 years.
Today, the newly elected Parliament will elect its next president and he is almost certainly going to be AKEL leader Demetris Christofias who has secured the support of DIKO and KISOS.
“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the co-operation we had in the last five years. I think it was a good co-operation both ways. Thank you for offering your important services to the people. I am sorry if I ever caused any misunderstanding or bitterness between us. I want you to know it was not intentional,” Kyprianou told reporters.
“I left politics of my own accord. But I know that you don’t have to be a politician to serve your country. Cyprus will go through testing times. The next few years will be hugely critical with the EU accession process coming to an end. We must all be on guard at all times.” he warned.
On behalf of reporters, Sotiris Baroudis of CyBC thanked Kyprianou for the “good work in the House.”
“I know there might have been problems from time to time caused by the nature of our work but your door was always open for the media. We wish you all health and happiness,” Baroudis told Kyprianou.
“Forget about hard feelings,” the outgoing House President replied, clearly moved before the camera lights went off.
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.
