Christodoulides: I believe Edek can return to parliament

President Nikos Christodoulides on Friday said he believes that Edek can return to parliament, after losing all its seats in the legislature at May’s election, as he met the party’s 27-year-old new leader Sofia Christodoulou Makri. “Edek deserved to be in parliament for a great many reasons, and I believe it can return to parliament. Edek played a decisive role in shaping our pre-election programme, particularly regarding social issues – an area where the party demonstrates special sensitivity,” he said. On this front, he added that “many of the policies we are implementing align with this direction”, and that “these are ideas which were promoted by Edek”. Those ideas, he said, stand alongside “many others we intend to implement and announce, aimed at improving people’s daily lives and further boosting disposable income”. “We are doing this while taking into account current challenges, especially those affecting the younger generation, and I refer specifically to the housing issue, which is a major challenge,” he said. On the matter of housing, he said that the government “has the capacity” as well as the “financial means” to be able to “make significant investments through more than ten schemes”, which, when combined have a combined value of more than €400 million. He added that Edek is “a significant pillar of political life in Cyprus” and “the second-oldest party after Akel”, as it was founded in 1969. Regarding the Cyprus problem, he said that even though Edek can no longer attend National Council meetings given that it has no seats in parliament, he intends to “keep [Makri] informed”. “This is an issue which concerns Edek and its supporters. Therefore, we will hold regular meetings to ensure that you are fully briefed and can, in turn, update the party’s collective bodies on developments regarding our national issue, a matter which affects us all,” he said. Makri wants Edek to play role ‘not only on Cyprus problem’ Makri, meanwhile, said that she wishes to “see an Edek which engages more with social issues, labour matters, and the concerns of everyday life”. “This is why the country needs Edek. Not only for the Cyprus problem, over which you held significant exchanges with my predecessors,” he said. She then said that her party’s relationship with the government “is of utmost importance” and stressed that “we want to play a more active role, not only regarding the Cyprus problem, but also concerning issues which affect society on a day-to-day basis”. Regarding the current state of her party, she said that “unfortunately, for the first time in many years, we found ourselves outside parliament”, and said that as a result, “Edek needs this renewal, this restart”. “I believe this restart is already underway, and I want to emphasise that Edek is not defined by a three-point-three-per-cent share. It represents much more than that. However, due to specific circumstances, errors, or oversights, call them what you will, our true standing is clearly much higher,” she said. She added that “we are already seeing a return of party officials, which is encouraging”, but that “my goal is not just for former members to return, but for Edek to begin to attract new people”. “Unfortunately, Cyprus has a high rate of voter abstention, so there are individuals who could be inspired by this new effort we are undertaking as Edek,” she said. May’s election result was the worst in Edek’s history Edek won just 3.25 per cent of the vote at May’s election, recording the party’s worst result in its 56-year history. The party was one of three which supported Christodoulides’ presidential election campaign in 2023, of which only Diko, with eight seats, remains in the legislature, with Dipa, too, having lost all its seats. On election night in May, Christodoulides said that “Dipa and Edek deserved to be in the new House, and have proven it, and we see that they did not make it into the new House by tens or hundreds of votes”, before adding that “they should have been there”. Last month, it lost its only ministry, with Maria Panayiotou being replaced by Diko member Christos Senekis as agriculture minister.