DIKO hit back yesterday after a shock invite from a DISY deputy to riling AKEL to show the coalition partner the door.
While DIKO spokesman Fotis Fotiou said the invite by Socrates Hasikos “neither concerns nor interests us”, the party’s vice-president Nicolas Papadopoulos had more to say.
“It is the absolute right of [AKEL leader] Mr Andros Kyprianou to accept the proposal of Mr Hasikos and seek to expel DIKO from the government, if that is what he wants, and in cooperation with (DISY leader) Nicos Anastassiades bring back the Annan plan,” said Papadopoulos.
The DIKO deputy added he would continue to voice his opinions “however much intellectual terrorism is used by the ruling party”.
DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades was quick to dispel any open thoughts on uniting the historic enemies of the right and left, saying DISY was not seeking or discussing cooperation with ruling party AKEL. He clarified that Hasikos had voiced his own views and not those of the party.
Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou also commented on the unlikely marriage of AKEL and DISY, saying the government’s position on the Cyprus problem remained one of unity on the domestic front.
“If we have this phenomenon of continuous attacks, statements and disputes, then really, we are exploding unity on the domestic front,” said Stefanou.
Fotiou also repeated DIKO’s view that there was an urgent need to change tactic in the talks. He was saddened by the recent public disputes and recriminations among parties, saying they should stay focused on the targets set by the National Council. “Party tactics, petty politics, and personal targeting and approaches have to be abandoned. The relevance of the moment dictates it,” he said.
In a broadside to Kyprianou, Fotiou called on him “to understand that positions and ideas that are an extension of the Annan plan, not only do not serve our side, but clash at the same time with the will of the people as expressed in the 2004 referendum”.
Spokesman for the coalition partner EDEK, Demetris Papadakis held a press conference yesterday to clarify his party’s position that Christofias’ proposal for a rotating presidency was at odds with democratic principles.
Question marks over the academic qualifications of presidential adviser Toumazos Tselepis made another appearance yesterday with Papadopoulos offering a solution to end the endless probing of the adviser’s CV.
“There is a very simple way Mr Tselepis can end this criticism against him regarding this issue…make public his qualifications and degrees so the public can decide for itself on his expertise,” said Papadopoulos.
The DIKO deputy added that a lot of “hypersensitivity” was being shown by some regarding what he saw as legitimate interest in the man’s expertise, especially since his positions could be seen as dangerous for Cypriot Hellenism.
“We don’t see the same sensitivity from the same political circles when, for example, CyBC ‘prepares’ a TV panel to over-represent the view for a return to the Annan plan,” he added.
Meanwhile UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer said yesterday that of all the issues under discussion, at the talks, property was “one of the hard ones”.
He was speaking after a meeting with President Demetris Christofias at the Presidential Palace.
The two met to discuss progress so far and how the talks will proceed in the coming weeks. “There is no doubt that of all the issues that these talks confront, property is one of the hard issues,” said Downer.
The decision of the two leaders to delegate work to their two respective aides was described by the Australian diplomat as “a very constructive way to handle” the “complicated” property issue.
