Nicosia, Cyprus. Edek on Sunday refused to accept party leader Nikos Anastasiou’s resignation after he sought to step down following the party’s loss of all its seats in last month’s parliamentary election. He will remain party leader for now.
Leadership remains unchanged
Anastasiou had attempted to resign in the aftermath of the election result, but the party declined to accept his departure.
He had taken over the leadership in June last year after the surprise resignation of Marinos Sizopoulos, who had led Edek for 11 years.
Election performance
Sizopoulos had faced criticism after Edek secured five per cent of the vote in the 2024 European Parliament election, a result seen at the time as disappointing.
A year later, Edek received 3.25 per cent of the vote in the parliamentary election, marking the party’s worst result in its 56-year history. Anastasiou did not stand in this year’s election.
Anastasiou’s response
Speaking at the party’s office as the results came in last month, Anastasiou said “the result does not please us and unfortunately is an injustice to both Edek and to Cyprus itself”.
He also referred to a lack of unity within the party in the months before the election.
“From the first day I took over as Edek leader, I did everything humanly possible to gather and unite the peace of our party. Despite my continuous and sincere efforts, some fellow activists preferred to stay away,” he said.
He added that he “fully” accepts “my share of the responsibility” for the result, but said others should “take on their responsibilities for seeing the danger Edek was facing and choosing to stay away”.