THE MORNING after the first round of voting and the question on everybody’s mind is who is pairing with whom and at what price to secure the presidency?
Sunday’s election put Ioannis Kasoulides in front of Demetris Christofias by only 980 votes, a minute margin that left both candidates scrambling for support from the losing parties yesterday. Ideological, historical or political differences were left to the wayside as the two main losing parties, DIKO and EDEK, flirted with the chance of a second term as government partners.
The two remaining candidates, Christofias and Kasoulides, spent the day touring the political party scene, trying to secure the support of both DIKO and EDEK, while EVROKO and the Greens were left holding the balloons in the corner. There was much strutting and wooing but little concrete signs as to where the former partners of the Tassos Papadopoulos government would go.
Political analysts shared the view that whatever horse-trading and alliances were made, and they could go either way, the presidency was still up for grabs for both candidates as historically, DIKO and EDEK votes were always split.
After meeting with the outgoing president yesterday, Kasoulides told reporters that Papadopoulos said he would not be endorsing either candidate in the second round, nor would he tell his party DIKO how to vote.
The DISY candidate also met with DIKO leader Marios Karoyan and EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou yesterday. After his meeting with Omirou, Kasoulides said he was no stranger to socialism, given his collaboration with social democrats in the European Parliament. During his meeting with Karoyan, Kasoulides answered questions on his positions regarding the Cyprus problem.
Christofias also met with Karoyan, Omirou and Papadopoulos. The AKEL leader was keen to stress his friendly relations with the former government partners, despite recent differences. Calling both by their first names, Christofias described his meetings with “Marios” and “Yiannakis” as friendly and constructive, noting that they had worked together for almost five years.
Both middle party leaders, Karoyan and Omirou, were at pains to stress the autonomy of each party to support the candidate they believed would serve the best interests of the people. DIKO’s executive committee was due to meet yesterday to discuss their candidate of choice for this Sunday’s second round of elections.
Greens leader Georgios Perdikis, who was not approached by either candidate, said his party which had backed Papadopoulos in the elections would decide who to support on Thursday. EVROKO, also government partners, proposed on Sunday night that all four government partners make a joint decision on whom to support. When it became clear that the ‘all for one and one for all’ motto no longer applied, party leader Demetris Syllouris said he would not rule out co-operation with either candidate. He warned, however, that Papadopoulos’ removal from power opened the way for a dangerous settlement plan for Cyprus.
Independent candidate Marios Matsakis, who garnered an impressive 3,460 votes, said he would decide on his return from Brussels whom to back, depending on which of the two candidates he disliked the least. The firebrand MEP said he would not tell his voters who to support.
Former minister and failed candidate Costas Themistocleous, who got 713 votes, said his campaign team would decide mid-week on whom to throw their support behind.
