Nicosia, Cyprus. Alma launched a sharp attack on former president Nicos Anastasiades after comments he made about the movement’s leader, Odysseas Michaelides, during a televised interview. The movement linked Anastasiades to corruption and institutional decline in Cyprus.
Interview remarks and response
Alma’s statement followed an interview Anastasiades gave to Vergina TV, in which he criticised what he described as a political climate of “toxicity”, “nihilism” and “people’s courts” in Cyprus.
Referring to former auditor general Michaelides, Anastasiades said: “I am his obsession, but unfortunately I studied law and not psychiatry in order to observe him more closely.”
Alma condemned the comment as an attempt to discredit a political opponent and accused figures in Disy of systematically attacking Michaelides.
Accusations of institutional decline and corruption
The movement accused Anastasiades of contributing to institutional decline and corruption, saying that “in a normal democracy and an incorruptible rule of law” he “might be in prison today”.
Alma said party officials had sought to portray Michaelides as “obsessive” and possessing a “sick mind”.
It added: “If Anastasiades were in totalitarian regimes, he would probably request the confinement of the ‘dissident’ Michaelides in a psychiatric hospital.”
Alma said that “in modern European states the only ones deemed worthy of confinement are those who harm the public interest and those who abuse public power.”
References to past controversies
Alma directly linked Anastasiades to controversies from his presidency, including the golden passports scandal, the Panama Papers and allegations concerning institutional interference.
It described Anastasiades as “a completely immoral politician” and said his name had become associated with “collusion and corruption”.
How do you assess the impact of such exchanges on Cyprus’ political climate?
