CYPRIOT MEP candidates fired off their finals shots yesterday as campaigning came to an official end at midnight.
The big battle was between eternal rivals, ruling party and left-wing AKEL with right-wing DISY. The two have mainly been rowing about their differing views on the Cyprus problem, while the smaller parties have regularly expressed their discontent at what they say is the big parties’ attempts to steal their voters by urging them not to vote for a party that won’t even make it into the European Parliament.
EVROKO and EDEK are at loggerheads and vying for a seat, with the former playing up the Cyprus problem and the latter arguing that Cyprus must be represented in the European Socialist Party. EDEK even went a step further and put out an ad with the head of ESP, telling the public to vote for EDEK.
Here’s a breakdown of the main parties’ campaigns.
AKEL
In his pre-election speech on Wednesday, ruling party AKEL’s general-secretary Andros Kyprianou called on all left-wing voters to join forces and head to the voting centres, so AKEL can emerge victorious and secure the most votes.
Kyprianou likened the Akelites’ votes to an indication of their trust towards the President Demetris Christofias. “A powerful AKEL means effective support to President Christofias and the government,” he said.
AKEL, he added, has come a long way and plans to go even further. “Let us not return to the past. Let’s not give DISY the chance to celebrate.”
Referring to efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, Kyprianou said allowing the current situation to drag on “should concern all those who are hiding behind the false pretence of patriotism, calling on us to abandon current efforts”.
The opposition didn’t fail to rile Kyprianou yesterday, who expressed sadness over the fact that a DISY MEP candidate, who he refused to name, said AKEL was today a “carcinoma for democracy”.
“I’m truly saddened because in the past few days an intense anti-AKEL campaign has been launched by DISY,” said Kyprianou. “AKEL stood up for democracy with battles and sacrifices, peaking with the 1974 invasion. Not everyone can say that they stood up for democracy back then. So they should be ashamed for expressing these things against AKEL.”
Asked to comment, DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades said there were no “carcinomas in democracy”. He said there were differing views that are totally respected.
“As president of the party and expressing our side’s views, I want to clarify that we don’t believe that anybody whatsoever is a carcinoma, without this meaning that I accept that one of our candidates has made such a reference,” he said.
DISY
Opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades accused AKEL of dogmatism and euro-scepticism, which is keeping Cyprus in the margins of Europe and in third-world conditions. He said 15 months since Christofias came into government were enough to reveal AKEL’s true intentions.
“Sacrificing even the obligatory unity in view of managing the Cyprus problem prove that their only concern is to bleed the public sector dry, politicisation and serving their partners.”
He added that DISY does not accept nepotism, rusfeti and the lack of transparency.
“Each vote to parties that don’t elect an MEP or those who don’t know what they want to do is a lost vote; I am calling on all voters to show up at the voting centres on Saturday and vote in a way that will shake AKEL up,” said Anastassiades.
EVROKO
EVROKO’s election ad boldly stated: “Rotating presidency? Enough of this hypocrisy; enough of this mockery… Vote EVROKO”.
To say the right-wing party’s slogan was not subtle would be an understatement. Adding to the feeling that there is no love lost there, EVROKO and ruling party AKEL cemented their mutual dislike with their most recent spat.
When AKEL General Secretary Andros Kyprianou boldly stated that he was certain EDEK would be voted into the European Parliament, it didn’t take a genius to understand what he meant. His statement provoked an angered response from EVROKO candidate Stratos Panagides, who claimed AKEL was purposefully trying “to provoke the logic of a lost vote.”
Panagides urged everyone to look at the continuous rise in the party’s percentages; “EVROKO is the only party that registers consecutive increases in its percentages,” he pointed out. Expressing his conviction that EVROKO would secure a place in the EP, Panagides concluded, “If this wasn’t the case, we would be under attack from all these parties over the last few days”.
EVROKO V EDEK
EVROKO MP Rikkos Erotokritou went on the attack yesterday against EDEK vice president Marinos Sizopoulos, saying his statements were unacceptable, saying if he has evidence he should present it.
Sizopoulos had left clear insinuations on Wednesday that EVROKO members had a direct hand in the dictatorial events that led to the coup before the Turkish invasion.
In response, Erotokritou said EDEK today has no relation to the EDEK of founder Vassos Lyssarides.
“The manners, ethos and contents of Mr Sizopoulos’ statement on behalf of EDEK, is politically and ethically unacceptable. Everyone has the responsibility of their political record. So does Mr. Sizopoulos. It is completely unacceptable, unethical and infuriating when Mr. Sizopoulos refers to members of the European party for a period that is more than 40 years ago, covering people that might not even have been born then.,
As EVROKO’s, we disagree with EDEK’s policy. A policy that support demetris Christofias over the solution of the Cyprus problem and which of course levels the policy of former president Tassos Papadopoulos on the same issues of the Cyprus problem. Christofias’ strategy simply offers the other side the opportunity to promote a co federal solution.
Sizopoulos and his party’s members fail to see what most of everyone else has; that the EDEK of Vassos Lyssarides is one thing and today‘s EDEK is another.
GREEN PARTY
Green Party candidate Ioanna Panayiotou accused the big parties of already sharing the parliamentary seats and ofurging the public not to vote for the small parties.
“In the last days of the pre-election period, the two big parties are forgetting themselves and making condescending references,” said Panayiotou. “They decided that the elections had ended, they shared the seats and called on the public, not to vote for the small parties.” She said this attempt to silence the Greens would not pass. “The environmentally conscious public is not interested in which of the two big parties gets the most seats; it is interested in the party that will stand up for its right to a better quality of life. Active and sensitive citizens have a choice and that is the Green Party.”
DIKO
Party leader Marios Garoyian called on his party’s voters to vote responsibly. He said tomorrow people would be voting for Europe as well as Cyprus, adding that voters should join forces with the party to send the message to Europe loud and clear, that no spurious solutions will be accepted for the Cyprus problem, there will be no backing down and no more asphyxiating timeframes.
