Clerides hails victory

SUNDAY night was a jubilant one for DISY’s 86-year-old honorary chairman Glafcos Clerides, who saw all predictions overturned and the party he founded in 1976 regain the top position in the country’s political scene.

Clerides was welcomed by hundreds of ecstatic DISY supporters and current chief Nicos Anastassiades, who led him to the main office on the fifth floor, which was crowded by party officials.

The ground floor was flooded with DISY youth members, who celebrated the triumph and shouted slogans against dissident leader Yiannakis Matsis and President Tassos Papadopoulos.

At around 10.30pm, Clerides and Anastassiades held a news conference among hundreds of party faithful who voiced their admiration for the two men.

“DISY celebrates tonight and we owe this victory to you,” Clerides said.

He added: “When we founded DISY in 1976, we did not do it from personal ambition but we were inspired by principles and ideals.”

In a clear message to all dissidents and doubters, Clerides pointed out that people should realise DISY was an “unconquerable fortress”: it had proved that it was stable and unshaken, defended democracy and worked for the reunification of the country.

Anastassiades later said the victory was the work of the DISY people, adding that his priority was to win back those who voted for other parties and candidates.

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.