Four DEK leaders withdraw support for party president Themistocleous

Nicosia, Cyprus. Four central figures in the Democratic National Movement (DEK) withdrew their support for party president Andreas Themistocleous on Friday, accusing him of arbitrary decision-making that they said had destroyed trust within the party.

The officials, who are also DEK co-founders, said Themistocleous no longer had their support because his actions had broken the relationship of trust and cooperation.

Statement by party officials

The statement was signed by vice presidents Nikos Charalambous and Prokopis Prokopiou, secretary general Marios Thrasyvoulou and general organising secretary Andreas Sotiriou.

The four dissenting officials hold a majority on DEK’s six-member central committee.

They said Themistocleous had acted arbitrarily and in violation of previous agreements.

Party operations

The officials also sought to clarify DEK’s operational arrangements, saying the party has had no press representative since May 25 and does not employ paid staff.

Themistocleous’ political career

The split comes less than two years after Themistocleous founded DEK following his departure from Elam.

Themistocleous entered parliament in 2013 as a Disy MP after Nicos Anastasiades vacated his seat upon becoming president. He lost the seat in the 2016 election, later joined Elam and returned to parliament in 2021.

He was expelled from Elam four months later and subsequently served as an independent MP before founding DEK.

DEK is a nationalist party that opposes a bizonal bicommunal federation and what it describes as progressive social agendas. Themistocleous has repeatedly attracted controversy during his time in parliament.