IOANNIS Kasoulides last night officially announced that he will be running as an independent candidate in next February’s Presidential elections.
Exuding confidence and looking relaxed in a dark suit at a packed International State Fair in Nicosia, the European Parliamentarian and former Foreign Minister told an estimated 2,000 people: “We are here today because we love our country passionately and our very proud of our island and its history and we are positive that it has the potential for a great future.”
Loud music and flashing lights greeted his arrival on stage, and to an accompanying man, woman and child: everybody rose and began clapping.
Grinning from ear to ear, the 58-year-old waved enthusiastically, shaking the countless hands offered to him.
Speaking clearly and forcibly, he said “we must move forward and again create hope and a vision for Cyprus”.
To a standing ovation, he added that while other EU countries “are progressing and evolving at speed, we remain staid and weighed down by the opinions and stereotypes of yesterday”.
He criticised the current coalition government, saying it has burdened the island with its lack of leadership, which is not befitting of a modern, European country.
He cited the Defence Ministry’s lack of leadership, the dismal state of Cyprus Airways and the ever-changing position of he Government Spokesman as examples of a lack of vision in the coalition.
He said that while he walked proud after Cyprus’ EU accession with flying colours, in his recent experience as an MEP, he was forced to creep the corridors of Europe armed with explanations to “excuse the weaknesses and deficiencies” of the current leadership.
Kasoulides said that our foreign image had suffered greatly under Papadopoulos’ leadership, saying the world was watching a floundering Cyprus, weighed down by a lack of vision, strategy and contrasting voices.
“They are almost giving us a third world presence,” he said.
Kasoulides is a former Foreign Minister and Government Spokesman, who is currently an MEP from opposition DISY.
He is pitching himself as a moderate, hoping to attract as broad a cross-section of voters as possible. He says that, if elected, he would not be saddled with “party baggage”.
It is widely believed that opposition DISY will back Kasoulides in the next few days.
Chief Nicos Anastassiades on Tuesday said Kasoulides had a broad appeal, and was a figure who could provide solutions to the dead-end situation in which the Cyprus issue finds itself.
“Mr Kasoulides aims to lead a people’s coalition, not a party coalition,” noted Anastassiades.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail in April, Kasoulides said, “the big question is whether the people, the ordinary people and not the political parties, do have the will for another road that Cyprus should take, whether the time has come to change gear from the post colonial eastern Cyprus towards a more modern European state.”
He strongly believes that it’s not a matter of whether he will be the ‘DISY candidate’ running against President Papadopoulos for power, but a matter of what, not who, the people want as their President.
He sees the presidency a “direct contract” between the people and the person they have chosen to carry out a policy on their behalf. He also sees this as his biggest challenge.
Kasoulides said the presidential system itself was about the president and the people, and not about political parties.
He is known as a progressive politician with fresh ideas and an open mind. He has made a name for himself as a devoted patriot but a staunch opponent of populist and nationalist attitudes. Kasoulides has a wide and deep international reach and enjoys high approval ratings across the political spectrum.
He also enjoys much respect in the EU where his statesmanlike attitudes have gained him a reputation as a man who can broker deals.
Kasoulides, along with former Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Costas Themistocleous, are the only official presidential candidates so far, with both President Papadopoulos and AKEL leader Demetris Christofias wavering on their candidacy options.
President Papadopoulos, 73, came to power in 2003 after a landslide victory thanks to the support of AKEL, DIKO and EDEK.
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