DIKO peace short lived

BEFORE THE ink could dry on a DIKO press release regarding Friday’s marathon meeting of the Executive Bureau, party vice-president Nicolas Papadopoulos yesterday disputed the very conclusions of that meeting. 
The bureau met for five hours on Friday in another effort to bridge the gap between DIKO members who support the government and those who publicly criticise its policies, particularly over the handling of the Cyprus problem and the economy.
In a statement released yesterday, party spokesman Fotis Fotiou said the meeting set out a clear framework of the party’s positions before the National Council meeting on Tuesday, which includes support for President Demetris Christofias’ three-proposal package recently announced for the ongoing talks.
The meeting also set out “rules of operation and behaviour of party officials, aiming to end the bad image the party reflects and strengthen its credibility”, said Fotiou, adding “there was no dispute over the need to improve the party’s current image”.
The spokesman explained that party leader Marios Garoyian had proposed to coordinate the various opinions and statements of party officials. During the meeting Garoyian noted that some members had “crossed the line”.
According to Fotiou, the Executive Bureau members agreed with Garoyian that all DIKO officials will show full respect to the collective decisions the party when making public statements, to create a united political voice. From now on, every official must consult with the president or spokesman before making public statements, said Fotiou.
Garoyian also made it clear that those who disagreed with the decisions of the collective organs were obliged “to make an honourable choice”, in other words, showing them the door.
The internal peace was short-lived however, as Papadopoulos yesterday questioned whether anyone had agreed to Garoyian’s proposal to pass all public statements through him or Fotiou first.
“I wish to clarify that I was present at (Friday night’s) meeting of the Executive Bureau until the end and can assure you that no such decision was ever taken,” said Papadopoulos. 
“What was said by all was that better coordination was needed when public statements were made by any party official and everyone committed to achieving this, including the party president,” he added.
The DIKO deputy maintained “no decision was taken that approval or authorisation was needed from anyone before elected party officials could make announcements or give their positions in public.”

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