DISY, government trade truce for a day as rift hardens

Politics akeldisyNikos ChristodoulidesTop News DISY, government trade truce for a day as rift hardens Disy Proedriko Akel Scaled 1 1536x819 Relevant News DISY, government trade truce for a day as rift hardens 11 August 2026 Larnaca dog owners object to restricted vehicle access at Spyros Beach 11 August 2026 Pension cut scenario for high earners still on table, sources say 11 August 2026 Frixos Dalitis 11 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber DISY and the government eased their weekend war of words somewhat on Monday. It was a brief, informal truce, time enough to count the losses on both sides of what looks like a lasting split. Even so, sparring continued on television talk shows, though neither DISY’s nor the government’s headquarters issued formal statements. One thing is certain: the split between the two sides is now final, and the gap will only widen with time. Since the parliamentary election and the definitive collapse of any scenario for cooperation, each side has gone its own way, seizing on opportunities to highlight their differences. President Nikos Christodoulides’s reference to “DISAKEL” at a memorial event for Isaak and Solomos caused considerable irritation within DISY. In turn, DISY went on the attack against the government over appointments to semi-state organisations. DISY wants to underline its role as the opposition and keep its distance from the government, to avoid being identified with Christodoulides. The government, meanwhile, is emphasising its centre-right credentials and trying to link DISY with AKEL, in a bid to win over right-wing voters. The standoff is expected to continue, with many more episodes to come before the presidential election. The confrontation is likely to intensify once the issue reaches Parliament’s Institutions Committee, where Dimitris Dimitriou has registered a related item, a move whose legitimacy is itself disputed, given questions over whether Parliament has any authority to scrutinise how the Advisory Council operates. The Advisory Council reform has drawn criticism for failing to convince the public that appointments are made on merit. That said, it does not erase the effort made to modernise the previous appointments system. On Monday, DISY and AKEL representatives both renewed their attacks on the government over the Advisory Council. Speaking on Alpha’s midday programme, DISY deputy spokesperson Xenia Konstantinou was asked whether the party’s criticism of the government aligned it with AKEL’s. She said DISY aligned itself with society as a whole. She said DISY had also noted AKEL’s own admission that the Advisory Council, which the government had presented as a flagship initiative for modernisation and transparency, had in practice ended up legitimising manoeuvres carried out by the Presidential Palace and ministers, with names put forward by parties seeking to stay close to Christodoulides ahead of his re-election bid. She added that AKEL had admitted that around 21 people had never applied to the Advisory Council, and was trying to present this as a result of DISY’s opposition. Konstantinou called on Christodoulides to recognise that he could not pass a single budget or reform without DISY’s support. Asked whether his “DISAKEL” jibe also raised concerns within DISY over the Cyprus problem, she said: “The only thing it diminishes is himself.” On how DISY would conduct its opposition, she said the party did not do politics on the basis of emotion but of logic and values, guided by the country’s best interests. She said DISY also demanded respect, warning that it would otherwise respond with the same sharpness. AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtidis, asked whether his party’s criticism of the government aligned it with DISY’s, said the president could have done better. He said that if Christodoulides believed one-liners and slogans would divert the debate from its substance, then he was “gravely mistaken.” Pasiourtidis said the substance of the debate was the president’s repeated inconsistency between words and actions, citing as examples Christodoulides’s past pledges to appoint equal numbers of men and women and to make appointments independent of party lists. He singled out the complete exclusion of people from the Left from appointments to semi-state organisations, asking whether the president believed a quarter of the electorate lacked capable technocrats to fill such posts. He noted that previous governments had struck a more balanced representation, for the sake of internal oversight. Commenting on Christodoulides’s “DISAKEL” remark, Pasiourtidis called it an attempt to degrade the level of political debate. He said the rhetoric echoed that of ELAM, pointing to what he described as the government’s declared flirtation with the party, which had celebrated Christodoulides’s election. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Larnaca dog owners object to restricted vehicle access at Spyros Beach Pension cut scenario for high earners still on table, sources say Things to do on Tuesday, August 11 Cyprus faces 40C heat on Tuesday as yellow warning in effect Magnitude 7.4 earthquake injures people, damages buildings in Colombia (videos) Yellow heat warning issued for Tuesday afternoon Motorcycle collision in Nicosia sends two to hospital Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.