DISY: come and join us

THE INTERNAL bickering continued yesterday between coalition partners AKEL and DIKO over the latest ‘executive’ proposals, prompting DISY to jump in and try break up the shaky marriage.

DIKO spokesman Fotis Fotiou said the Greek Cypriot proposal for a rotating presidency and weighted voting in a federal executive was a “red line” for his party. He questioned how the two sides could discuss weighted voting when the question of settlers in the north has yet to be decided.

President Demetris Christofias’ top adviser Toumazos Tselepis yesterday responded that DIKO had never mentioned this red line in any previous discussions of a rotating presidency. He clarified that there could be no solution if the settlers issue was not solved too, noting that in such a case, the current ‘executive’ proposal would be withdrawn.

AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou referred to the codification of positions in the National Council on April 12, 2005, which representatives of the late Tassos Papadopoulos handed to the UN. In a question to the president’s critics, he asked: “Why didn’t they express the same strong view then and issue their red lines?”

Sensing the growing chasm between the two coalition partners, DISY deputy Socrates Hasikos intervened in the dispute, suggesting AKEL should break up with DIKO since they had such opposite views and join forces with DISY.

“Should the Cypriot people expect a solution under these conditions?” he asked. “If AKEL or the president feels they can’t along (with DIKO), the president should not hesitate to tell DIKO ‘there’s the door, step outside’. If you get along with DISY, sit down with (DISY leader Nicos) Anastassiades.

“Since we share the same philosophy and strategy, let’s decide how to solve the Cyprus problem,” said Hasikos.

The Cyprus problem should no longer be a power game, about aligning with DIKO because someone wants to get elected or re-elected. “The country can’t take this any more. We have to wake up to the fact,” he added.

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.