Nicosia, Cyprus. Diko leader Nicholas Papadopoulos said on Monday that he would not rule out any scenario regarding the election of the House president, as parliamentary arithmetic appears to leave open a path to the post for him.
House presidency
Papadopoulos told Sigma television that “we do not rule out any scenario, any possibility, any cooperation,” stressing that while the House presidency is important to his party, so are “the implementation of the government’s work, the preservation of stability, and the normality of the country.”
He referred to previous cooperation with Disy on economic policy during the last parliamentary term, saying such collaboration is “particularly important” to Diko and that “we will seek to continue it” in the coming term.
Asked whether he would be a candidate for the House presidency, he said the issue would be discussed within the party secretariat and parliamentary group, with a decision to be made in the next 24 hours.
Diko and Disy, together with Elam, supported Annita Demetriou for House president five years ago.
Elam position
Since Demetriou became Disy leader in 2023, her relations with Elam have deteriorated. Elam leader Christos Christou told Omega television on Monday that the party was withdrawing the trust it had shown to Demetriou.
“Mrs Demetriou, as is known, has been supported by us. We had given her a vote of confidence in 2021, but we believe that in the five years that followed, she wronged Elam in many cases, and we are withdrawing the trust we had shown. From that point onwards, we are not excluding other individuals,” he said.
He added that “the only thing we are excluding as a party is Akel.”
Suggestions have been made that another Disy candidate could be put forward, since Christou ruled out voting for Demetriou or Akel.
Possible calculations
There has also been speculation that Disy and Demetriou could seek longer-term strategic gains by supporting Papadopoulos for House president in exchange for Diko backing Demetriou in the 2028 presidential election.
