Christodoulides’ ‘DISYAKEL’ jibe enrages opposition ahead of 2028

Politics akeldisyNikos ChristodoulidesTop News Christodoulides’ ‘DISYAKEL’ jibe enrages opposition ahead of 2028 Presidential Palace Disy Akel Ai Creation 1536x864 Relevant News Christodoulides’ ‘DISYAKEL’ jibe enrages opposition ahead of 2028 10 August 2026 Holguin leaves Turkey out of the picture, Nicosia pushes back 10 August 2026 Cyprus to pay interconnector dues once Greece issues survey notice 10 August 2026 Andreas Bimbishis 10 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber The term “DISYAKEL” is not new, but whenever it is used to suggest that the Democratic Rally (DISY) and AKEL hold identical positions, it provokes sharp reactions from both parties, neither of which wants to be identified with the other’s opposing ideology. When President Nikos Christodoulides used the term on Saturday night, he knew exactly where he was striking. The intensity of the row, which continued into Sunday between the government and DISY, showed that the events of 2023 continue to fuel political conflict and to overshadow DISY’s leadership ahead of 2028, amid internal party struggles over who will secure the presidential nomination. Appointments to the boards of semi-state organisations gave the opposition the opening it had been looking for to attack the government. Saturday’s announcements from DISY and AKEL, in turn, gave the government what it had been looking for: a way to demonstrate that the two ideological poles of right and left hold overlapping positions. Saturday’s first attack DISY described the Advisory Council, which vets state board appointments, as a “cloak of meritocracy for government choices,” saying it had “neither demanded nor sought appointments of party officials.” In its statement, DISY argued that the Advisory Council proposes while the government decides, and pointed out that the government itself had admitted that 21 of the 95 people appointed were not among its recommendations. The party questioned whether the process genuinely strengthens meritocracy or instead serves as cover for predetermined government choices. The Advisory Council had been “baptised… ‘an emblematic reform,'” AKEL said in its own statement, while in practice further eroding public trust and confidence in institutions. The party said a different, meritocratic and transparent style of governance had been promised but had ended up exceeding even the previous administration in cronyism, turning appointments into a vehicle for the 2028 election rather than serving the public interest. “The party is over” Responding to both parties, Christodoulides said a party they had grown used to holding in the past, distributing appointments among themselves in shares of four, three and two, had now been stopped by the Advisory Council. Responding to accusations that the government was engaged in “plunder,” he said some people believe “the public has a short memory,” asking rhetorically who had ended up in prison over the “Cyta plunder” and which party had benefited from it. Christodoulides said he follows a large number of announcements from both parties daily and found it “very interesting that these announcements are identical,” urging DISY and AKEL to issue them jointly in future. Sunday’s flurry of statements There was no let-up on Sunday, as announcements from all sides followed one another in quick succession. AKEL was first to respond to the President’s remarks, saying the “appointments party” had not ended but had in fact intensified. It referenced visits by the DIKO party leader to the Presidential Palace carrying lists, and said Christodoulides’s comments could only be seen as mockery of the public, adding that he appeared unconcerned by public opinion. AKEL said that since his first day in office, Christodoulides has kept his eye on re-election and shaped appointments accordingly, promising one thing as a candidate while doing the opposite as President. DISY’s first reply was measured by comparison, criticising the venue Christodoulides had chosen to respond to the two parties. It reminded him that he himself had once asked what separated his policies from DISY’s, yet on Saturday he had not hesitated to attempt, in what the party called an offensive manner, to equate DISY with AKEL. DISY also noted that, as a party, it had supported specific government policies. Letymbiotis responds Political alignment between DISY and AKEL “no longer needs to be pointed out,” Letymbiotis said, and “confirms itself daily.” He said DISY’s leadership was objecting because the President had spoken of overlap with AKEL, and almost simultaneously AKEL had issued a statement that, in his words, “confirms exactly this identification.” He said the alignment between the two parties’ leaderships “is not a label, but is now a daily observation.” DISY returns with six questions DISY then responded at greater length, and, in the name of the 1,282 candidates who had applied through the Advisory Council, demanded that the government provide specific data and justify the 21 appointments made outside the recommended list. Among the six questions the party put to the government, it called on it to stop what it called “podium populism.” DISY’s party spokesperson added further questions beyond the six in the written statement, telling Christodoulides he should be answering the public rather than the parties, and asking the government to explain how most appointments turned out to be either officials of the ruling party or personal supporters of the President, questioning whether Christodoulides expected the public to believe they were simply the most qualified candidates. Government aims at the top Letymbiotis noted that the President had referred to an “announcement industry,” saying three separate DISY announcements had already been needed that day to confirm his point, with the day not yet over, and that DISY’s leadership seemed determined to confirm the President’s point “with impressive consistency.” On the question of overlap with AKEL, Letymbiotis said this was “neither attributed nor manufactured by the government” but proven through repeated timing, matching arguments and shared targeting on almost every current issue, adding that when a coincidence repeats so often, it stops being a coincidence. A question for DISY’s future Letymbiotis said a deeper political question now faced DISY’s leadership: which core policies AKEL ultimately aligns with; the centre-right positions it has long claimed to represent, or the AKEL positions it increasingly echoes. He said a party’s leadership is defined not by its history and name alone but primarily by the positions it chooses to defend today. He said the day’s two DISY announcements raised a further specific question: whether DISY’s leadership genuinely considers the creation of the Advisory Council a positive and beneficial institutional reform. He recalled that when the government first announced the Advisory Council, DISY’s leadership had rushed to question and attempt to dismantle it, whereas it now invokes the body as a guardian of meritocracy, adding that the government welcomed this shift and was waiting for DISY to publicly endorse the council’s creation. Concluding, Letymbiotis asked DISY to state which model of selecting appointees it considered best: the Advisory Council, or the system applied for decades that DISY might wish to restore. 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