IN JUST one term as mayor of Limassol, Andreas Christou has joined an elite, extraordinary short list of political personalities.
For, as the top man of the island’s biggest municipality since 2006, Christou has managed to project himself as a rare – almost unique – elected official who operates above party politics, shying away from the entrenched clashes and subsequent lockdowns of our political system.
It’s a startling accomplishment, considering that since 1991 Christou has been at the forefront of politics as a member of the left-wing party AKEL, serving the party in various positions including party spokesman and MP for Limassol for 13 years.
He also served as interior minister between 2003 and 2006 for the Tassos Papadopoulos government in which AKEL was an integral and influential partner.
Until June this year, even the right-wing DISY, a party traditionally at odds with AKEL, contemplated supporting Christou in this December’s municipal elections. While in the end this did not materialise, all other political parties have supported the Christou candidacy.
So successful has he been that many voters regard him as an independent candidate.
So how does he do it?
“The feeling among the majority of Limassol citizens is that he is one of them, a Limassolian who shares the same passion and romantic affection for the city, prioritising the good of the city over party interests or established ideological differences,” said Stavros Nearchou, a DIKO voter from Limassol.
“My love for Limassol started from growing up in the old city, taking part in choirs and other celebrations of the city like the carnival,” says Christou who credits his wife, Christiane, for enhancing his passion for the city.
While working in Nicosia for 17 years, Christou never contemplated relocating to the capital, thus having to commute every day from his home in Limassol.
“He has the characteristics of a traditional and romantic Limassolian of old,” says Tasos Andreou, a Limassol architect and friend of Christou.
Pictures of Christou in carnival outfits, participating in traditional events such as the annual wine festival and taking part in annual bicycle rides and charity walks have often been used by critics as examples of mere populism, but Christou rubbishes such claims as ignorant.
“My behaviour is genuine. I do things that are close to my heart and express my character and I do believe my fellow citizens appreciate this sincerity,” says Christou, who can often been seen riding his bicycle around town.
He is renowned for being driven and hard-working – some say workaholic – and insists on answering any letter written to him personally.
While holding a reputation of being attentive and open to suggestions, this is often paired with the criticism that in the end, he simply does what he wants
“I’m a determined individual and by nature listen and try to understand other points of view, but at some point a decision has to be made, and the buck stops at the mayor who has the lion’s share of the decision’s responsibility,” he says.
When Christou was elected mayor in 2006, he received 55 per cent of the votes, but he is expected to secure a landslide victory this December despite the possible public backlash against AKEL candidates in the wake of the Mari blast and the economic situation on the island.
“His stance during the Annan plan, when he disagreed with the party line, showed that he is his own man,” said a local businessman. “I think that this has disassociated him from the party in the eyes of the public.”
“The city belongs to the citizens and the mayor belongs to them, and when this relationship is clear then party politics cannot be included,” says Christou. “That is the beauty of local government.”
It is a view shared by Savvas Stouppas, the Limassol vice mayor and DISY official.
“Whilst our differences and different political ideologies are not necessarily erased, we leave our political identity at the entrance of the municipality,” he says. “Once we are in, our party is Limassol.”
Christou credits the team-spirit environment and group togetherness of the municipal council as the driving force behind the many development initiatives in the city and says that the close cooperation combined with concrete results have gained the trust of the people, regardless of party affiliation.
“There are no magicians in our times – you need people who can share the vision and shoulder the responsibility or else you merely become a Don Quixote,” says Christou.
The widespread support for Christou, and the view of him as an independent, has prompted many to liken him to Lellos Demetriades, mayor of Nicosia for some 30 successive years between 1971 and 2001.
During his long tenure, Demetriades kick started renovation works in the historic old town which had been left virtually abandoned by the intercommunal conflict of the 1960s and then the Turkish invasion, spearheaded important bicommunal projects and pushed through the pedestrianisaiton of Ledra and Onasagorou Streets.
So is Andreas Christou Limassol’s Lellos Demetriades in the making?
While the reconstruction of Limassol’s old quarters is the project that Christou is also most proud of, with just five years on the job, he avoids being drawn to any comparisons.
“I feel that ten years is a more natural life-span for a local government so it can fulfil the promises it makes, but it is like a relay, and each one builds on the foundations of the previous ones and works to the capabilities that the circumstances provide,” says Christou.
