Pittokopitis lashes out at party bosses
FORMER DIKO bruiser Nikos Pittokopitis has delivered a warning to his political foes: stop undermining me or I will unleash a political typhoon the likes of which you have never seen.
Pittokopitis, who failed to get re-elected to parliament last May, wants to contest the Paphos mayorship, but says that a covert campaign is under way to exclude him from public life.
The tough-talking politician claims that the powers that be have ganged up on him, deciding beforehand who should stand for mayor in Paphos.
The man earmarked for the job is Savvas Vergas, a municipal councilor in Paphos for the past nine years.
Pittokopitis’ blitz is giving his party a new headache, barely after the three-way coalition between AKEL, EDEK and DIKO – after much haggling – reached a compromise formula for commonly acceptable candidates for the upcoming municipal elections.
Although DIKO’s Executive Bureau is set to make its final decisions on candidates this coming Monday and Tuesday, Pittokopitis is seen as a rogue refusing to go along with party procedures.
Pittokopitis’ most explosive allegation is that “certain quarters” had promised him the Paphos mayorship if he agreed to Eleni Mavrou’s candidacy for the Nicosia municipality, to which he objected.
In effect, Pittokopitis says he was duped by those same people, but has refused to name names.
Mavrou was one of the few AKEL members who came out openly in favour of the Annan plan in the April 2004 referendum.
In October 2004, Pittokopitis infamously said: “Those who took money to sell their country [by promoting a ‘yes’ vote to the Annan plan] should go and commit suicide in public so the Cypriot people can learn the truth and to serve as a future example to anyone.” Mavrou was one of several personalities accused at the time of being in the pay of the Americans in what was denounced by opponents as a witch-hunt of ‘yes’ supporters.
Yesterday, Pittokopitis was in bullish mood: “Even if they had offered me the presidency of the Republic I would have turned them down if it meant sacrificing my political beliefs. I have integrity.
“But I warn them: keep fighting me, and I shall unleash a political typhoon that will leave everyone reeling.”
To prove his point that he was being sidelined, the former deputy challenged his party to carry out a poll in Paphos asking residents to decide who is their favourite candidate.
“A campaign is being waged for eight months now to politically exterminate me,” he asserted.
Surprisingly, DIKO has been careful not to provoke Pittokopitis further, perhaps fearing that the Paphian will make good on his threats and reveal the behind-the-scenes horsetrading, turning the election campaign into a media circus.
The party’s secretary Vasilis Palmas told CyBC radio yesterday that anyone had the right to run for mayor, but needed to go through the designated party procedures.
Meanwhile the European Party yesterday confirmed it was mulling over contesting the Nicosia and Limassol municipalities with Nikos Koutsou and Rikos Erotokritou, respectively.
The party has decided to go it alone, having been snubbed by the three-way coalition of pro-government parties.
