Anastasiades urges Disy unity amid presidential candidacy dispute
Former president Nicos Anastasiades said personal ambition was harming Disy but ruled out direct intervention in its internal dispute.
Nicosia, Cyprus. Former president Nicos Anastasiades said on Wednesday that he was saddened by internal tensions in Disy over its presidential candidacy, while stressing that he does not intend to intervene directly.
Speaking to CyBC, Anastasiades said the party remained a strong and stable political force and urged current and prospective leaders to place loyalty to the party and the country above personal ambitions.
Call for party unity
“It hurts me to see the party going through everything it is going through because of personal ambitions,” Anastasiades said.
He said that love for the party and, by extension, the homeland should prevail over individual aspirations.
“Above their personal ambitions there is an ambition that must prevail, that of love for the party and by extension for the homeland,” he said.
Anastasiades added that Disy had demonstrated its ability to deliver prosperity and development, and said maintaining the party’s strength should take precedence over any individual candidacy.
No plan to intervene
Asked whether he intended to take an initiative to unite the party, Anastasiades said he had deliberately remained outside the internal contest.
He said media reports had portrayed him as seeking to influence the outcome whenever he attempted to offer help or advice.
“Whenever I wanted to help or advise, I saw publications that I was trying to lead or guide, which is not my intention because of course I have no intention of becoming a politician again,” he said.
Response to criticism
Anastasiades rejected suggestions that his engagement in party affairs was motivated by personal interests.
He said it was unreasonable for a person who had devoted more than half of his life to Disy to be accused of acting against the party because of what he described as petty ambitions.
“It is not possible for a man who has given more than half of his life to be accused by those who, due to petty ambitions, consider that he is at the expense of the party,” he said.
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