Christoforou takes up MEP mantle

DISY MP Lefteris Christoforou was officially declared an MEP on Monday, in a ceremony at the Interior Ministry.

Christoforou, who came third on the DISY ballot in the May European Parliament, assumes his MEP position following Christos Stylianides’ resignation. Stylianides has been appointed EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, and the bloc’s Ebola ‘czar’.

Speaking yesterday, Christoforou said: “I will continue my struggle to do what’s right for Cyprus.”

“It is time every single one of us takes it upon ourselves to push Cyprus forward and exit the dead end. I have the strong feeling that together we can do it” he added.

Christoforou also thanked DISY voters for supporting him and party leader Averof Neophytou “for his long-time support and trust he showed me.”

He saved a special “thank you” for his family, crediting them with “being my permanent support in life and the main component in everyday and political challenges.”

The former MP was elected at the House of Representatives with DISY in 1996 and never lost his seat. As a parliamentarian he most recently served as chair of the House Commerce Committee.

The parliamentarian from Famagusta district will be replaced by Evgenios Hamboullas, the runner-up for his seat in the 2011 elections. Hamboullas was sworn in shortly after Christoforou.

 

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.