Anastasiades calls for Disy run-off pact with Christodoulides

Former president Nicos Anastasiades has urged Disy and President Nikos Christodoulides to agree that whichever fails to reach the second round of the 2028 presidential election will back the other against an Akel supported candidate. Speaking on ANT1’s podcast, which will be broadcast in full on Wednesday, Anastasiades said Disy should first have discussed possible collaboration with other parties and only then begun its internal process to choose a candidate. He said he would stand by whatever candidate the party selects. “I have not betrayed and will not betray the party,” he said, dismissing criticism from those who, he said, pose as more loyal to Pindarou than he is. Anastasiades described the withdrawal of party leader Annita Demetriou from the race for the nomination as correct. He urged the two remaining contenders to avoid a rift, saying they were rivals for the nomination now but must return as allies the day after. He confirmed he had spoken with George Pamboridis and said a meeting with Averof Neophytou was being arranged. He condemned leaks of internal party meetings as “blows below the belt”, and without naming Neophytou, said “anyone who lost an election could not blame others for their own mistakes”. On Christodoulides, Anastasiades said that though he agreed with the government’s economic, social and foreign policy, he criticised delays in announcing infrastructure projects. Anastasiades said there were complaints that Christodoulides “ignores associates and ministers”, believing he has the final word on certain issues. “This is wrong and I believe that it is one of the problems that Nikos Christodoulides will have to face,” he said. He also described the appointment of Nikos Tornaritis as adviser on the Cyprus problem, responsible for Africa and Asia, as “wrong and an unnecessary provocation” of Disy. Demetriou announced earlier this month that she was quitting the race for the nomination, saying she wanted to preserve unity. Claims circulated that she had been blackmailed into stepping aside after a meeting with Neophytou and Alithia publisher Frixos Koulermos. Demetriou rejected them as “slanderous”, while Koulermos likewise denied pressuring her. Neophytou, a former party leader, and Pamboridis, a former health minister, are now competing for the nomination. Candidates need signatures from at least 500 party members, including 100 from the supreme council, before a ballot of all members in November. Pamboridis has said Disy should pursue a “natural alliance” with Diko and warned the party could again miss the run-off. Such fear stems from 2023, when Neophytou finished third in the first round, beaten by Christodoulides and Akel backed Andreas Mavroyiannis, with Disy missing a presidential run-off for the first time. Christodoulides himself is a former Disy member who served as government spokesman and later foreign minister under Anastasiades. He won the second round with about 52 per cent of the vote against Mavroyiannis, with Anastasiades backing him. After the first round, Disy allowed members a conscience vote in the second round, and Diko leader Nicolas Papadopoulos said Anastasiades had congratulated his party for its effective support of Christodoulides. Anastasiades denied rumours he had backed Christodoulides in the first round in 2023, but said he had chosen him in the second. When approached by the Cyprus Mail for comment, Disy declined to issue a statement until the podcast is broadcast in full.