THE REFUSAL of presidential candidate Ioannis Kasoulides to repent for his ‘yes’ vote on the Annan plan cost him the backing of centre-right party DIKO, said its leader Marios Karoyan yesterday.
Karoyan tried to dispel rumours that the Presidential Palace had interfered in the final decision to back left-wing candidate Demetris Christofias, pointing to the ghost of the 2004 referendum as the deciding factor.
“We would have liked, so we could have taken the next important step with Mr Kasoulides, for him to have dealt with the issue of the Annan plan,” said Karoyan.
“(To give) a stronger message, that his evaluation and judgement were wrong back then, not to belittle him, but to get the guarantees that would have reassured party members, because these are crucial issues,” he added.
At the end of the day, Kasoulides voted ‘yes’ and Christofias ‘no’, said Karoyan.
The DIKO leader noted that Christofias seemed to satisfy the party’s concerns on how he would approach the Cyprus problem, even though he wasn’t a first choice president. By backing Christofias, the party did not move one iota from its positions on the Cyprus problem and economy. Their four and a half years of cooperation in government also played a role, he added.
The resumption of the AKEL-DIKO partnership and Karoyan’s latest comments raise pertinent questions as to what exactly were the differences between AKEL and DIKO that led the former to abandon their alliance.
Kasoulides’ spokesman Loucas Fourlas described Karoyan’s statement as nothing but an “apology” for following party interest over the interests of the country. He argued that the country’s interests were in economic stability, highlighting AKEL’s parliamentary vote against entry to the eurozone.
DIKO’s decision to back Christofias over Kasoulides on Tuesday night shocked many of its supporters who had expected the party to stay right of the political spectrum.
Reports were rife on Tuesday that the party leadership, including Karoyan, had decided on Kasoulides. When the announcement came after midnight that the party had swung left to support Christofias, a number of party members were stunned.
Media reports were filled with speculation that outgoing President Tassos Papadopoulos had a big hand in the final decision, despite his earlier declaration of neutrality in this Sunday’s election runoff.
The main officials pushing for Christofias during the marathon meetings came from Papadopoulos’ inner circle, including government spokesman Vasilis Palmas, Kyriacos Kenevezos and Nicos Pittokopitis, raising suspicions that the outgoing president had more to do with the outcome than he let on.
One paper even reported that Karoyan had phone conversations with Papadopoulos and Christofias just before convening the party’s central committee, which played a decisive role in his apparent change of heart.
Palmas yesterday said the rumours were “insulting”, stressing that claims of interference by Papadopoulos were not true.
Former candidate Costas Themistocleous countered that anyone who believed Papadopoulos had no say in the matter, did not live on the island.
Asked yesterday what had made him change his mind, Karoyan insisted that no decision had been taken to support Kasoulides at any point, but rather a discussion was held on the pros and cons of both candidates.
He said it was not just a question of what DIKO could get from either candidate in terms of government participation but also how both candidates responded to Papadopoulos’ views on the Cyprus problem.
According to reports on the candidate’s stated positions, little separated them on the Cyprus problem as both vowed not to bring the Annan plan back on the table and both agreed with the July 8 2006 process as a starting point for any future negotiations.
The DIKO leader acknowledged that both candidates agreed with most of the 18 points set by Papadopoulos in his manifesto. So what was it that separated the two candidates?
Kasoulides refusal to show remorse for his ‘yes’ to the Annan plan and DISY’s stinging criticism of the Papadopoulos government was the answer, despite the fact Kasoulides vowed not to return to the Annan plan in future negotiations.
Karoyan called on DIKO members to respect the party line and rally around Christofias this Sunday. His plea was echoed by EU Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, who also sought to quash rumours that he was secretly in favour of backing Kasoulides.
Speculation was rife yesterday as to what price AKEL paid in getting DIKO’s support. The foreign ministry and House Presidency is a certainty, as confirmed by Karoyan.
One source suggested that George Lillikas was given the foreign ministry while Andreas Mavroyiannis would remain Cyprus’ permanent representative at the UN and Tasos Tzionis, the head of the president’s Diplomatic Office would stay in charge of the negotiating team.
AKEL’s Andros Kyprianou was categorical in his denial.
“For God’s sake, AKEL has no connection with Mr Lillikas. This is not even funny.”
On Tzionis and Mavroyiannis, he said: “AKEL had no such discussions with anyone at all. Absolutely not.”
