DISY adds star-studded elective candidates to list

RULING DISY on Wednesday introduced nine new would-be deputies on its election ticket, eight non-card-carrying candidates and one, Andreas Masouras, whose movement, Ecology Front, is already affiliated with the party.

For Nicosia, the elective candidates include Masouras, former government energy chief Solon Kassinis, Pavlos Drakou and Natassa Pilidou. The Limassol candidates are Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company  chief Toula Onoufriou and champion swimmer Karolina Pelendritou, in Paphos Artemis Savvidou and in Famagusta Christos Angelides and Christos Galanos.

At the event to announce the candidates, party leader Averof Neophytou said that only through a strong DISY could Cyprus have a strong government that would stabilise the outlook for Cyprus.

“Today we continue an innovative institution, that of elective candidates, which was established by the founder of our party, the late Glafcos Clerides in 1991,” said Neophytou, adding that it had been a complete success and was an important political legacy.

“The need for political unity remains timeless and we strive to serve unity,” he added. “But today our society is sending an urgent message and that is to address the deficits in political life, and to restore credibility and transparency.”

He said the elective candidates shared the positions of the party on the Cyprus issue and on the economy and would add value and contribute greatly to political life.

“We must change the political culture and not be afraid to tell the truth, whether we are in an election period or not,” he added.

Asked to comment on the low interest in the elections by the island’s young people, Neophytou said the only way to counteract it was to restore credibility to the political system.

“There is a general scorn, particularly among young people who, instead of a seeing a passport to employment found themselves with a ticket to unemployment,” he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.