OPPOSITION DISY chief Nicos Anastassiades yesterday warned his political rivals that his party was a force to be reckoned with following the surprise victory in Sunday’s Euro elections.
Just as everyone was writing the party off following its deeply unpopular support for a ‘yes’ vote in April’s Annan plan referendum followed by the expulsion of rebel deputies Prodromos Prodromou and Rikkos Erotokritou, DISY succeeded in pulling an unexpected coup, with Anastassiades reaffirming himself as the undisputed leader of the party.
Not only did DISY manage to elect two MEPs when opinion polls in the run-up to the elections showed they ran the risk of losing one to their rebel rivals, but they also achieved victory over arch-rivals AKEL who experienced a resounding defeat and lost the title of the biggest party.
The elections were marked by the low turnout – 27.50 per cent of the electorate abstained – and the big surprise of DISY coming on top, despite most projections and even exit polls suggesting they would be the biggest losers of the elections.
As it transpired, around 49,000 AKEL voters – about 36 per cent of their constituency – abstained from voting, while DISY recorded a concentration close to 90 per cent.
The fact that the DISY rebels managed to elect an MEP – Yiannakis Matsis — dampened the celebrations a bit, but could not dent the party’s huge success.
Anastassiades stressed that the victory was the result of the collective work of all the people, the candidates and DISY members.
He left the door open for DISY voters who chose to vote differently, but refrained from talking about the dissidents and any possibility of their return to the party.
Yesterday, Anastassiades put the success down to the people’s trust towards the party, which had been the driving force behind EU accession; once again, however, he steered clear of any confrontational comments.
“What is important is to see how we can collectively create the conditions to unite our country as soon as possible.
“This is our duty,” the DISY chief said.
Asked whether DISY would be affected by Matsis’ party, Anastassiades was adamant: “No. On the contrary it will reinforce us.”
“DISY has much more power and you’ll see,” he added.
In the AKEL camp, the leadership yesterday attempted to explain the reasons for the defeat, which cost the party the first position and seven per cent of national support.
AKEL parliamentary spokesman Nicos Katsourides put the defeat down to a combination of factors.
“The result constitutes a serious retreat; this is recorded in the percentages without a doubt,” Katsourides said.
He suggested that complacency among many traditional voters did a lot of damage, while admitting that many people voted for other parties.
Katsourides added many AKEL voters were not all that happy with the idea of the European Union, and, last but not least, conceded there were also many AKEL people who were unhappy with the position their party had taken in the April 24 referendum.
“AKEL will study the reasons, and the party leadership won’t hesitate to take on its responsibilities,” Katsourides said.
On Sunday, AKEL leader Demetris Christofias expressed his surprise about the results, which shunted the party into second place.
“I do not want to conceal AKEL’s weakness or the surprise we all lived through with the result, because no one, no one, had expected such a result,” Christofias said.
