EDEK opens leadership race after all four bids validated

Politics edekTop News EDEK opens leadership race after all four bids validated Mayronikolas Sofia Xannides Kouttoukis 1 1536x1024 Relevant News Cyprus police cells hold 77 inmates in space built for 40 11 August 2026 EDEK opens leadership race after all four bids validated 11 August 2026 Isotita takes fight over Maltezos dismissal to court and parliament 11 August 2026 Frixos Dalitis 11 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Morfakis Solomonidis, acting as EDEK’s deputy chairman, has validated all four candidacies for the party leadership, formally starting the countdown to the September 5 internal contest. The decision followed an objection to one candidacy and an intervention by a rival contender. Fellow leadership candidate and veteran party figure Kyriakos Mavronikolas had called for all candidacies to be validated, after objections were filed against the candidacy of Sofia Christodoulou Makri over whether she met the required length of party membership to stand. The objections triggered strong reactions, particularly from the party’s youth wing. Under pressure from those reactions, and amid concern that the dispute could reopen a cycle of internal division, Solomonidis announced his decision to accept all candidacies, closing the matter and leaving the differences to be settled at the ballot box. The four candidates for the EDEK leadership are Kyriakos Mavronikolas, Sofia Christodoulou Makri, Marios Channidis and Giorgos Kouttoukis. Some issues within EDEK remain unresolved, however. Former party leader Nikos Anastasiou, who resigned the post, spoke in a Sunday interview with Politis of an internal conflict and of disagreements and differing interpretations of decisions taken at the party’s last congress. Anastasiou said that while he was reading out the agreed points, and before he had finished his proposal, some people tried to interrupt him to have him announce the names of the committee that would examine the list of members to be excluded from the congresses that would follow. He said everyone would have the right to take part, provided they had been on the membership register since 2015, with only those who had been actively involved with other parties, publicly backed candidates from other parties, or had demonstrably worked against EDEK in the 2026 parliamentary election, excluded. Anastasiou said he went along with demands to announce the names before all proposals had been completed, but that when he then set out the proposals for the two congresses, statutory and electoral, the only committee actually formed was the credentials committee, whose remit differed entirely from what had originally been proposed. He noted that the committee had been recorded, at the preparatory meeting beforehand, as a congress document preparation group. Yannis Pieridis also intervened, in a social media post referencing the legal dispute over the membership register and remarks made by Marinos Sizopoulos. Addressing those who favour “forgetting everything and moving forward united,” Pieridis had two points to make. He said EDEK supporters were still tolerating people whose lawbreaking and “fascist practices” had driven the party out of parliament, and who, rather than resigning, continued to play a significant role in its direction. He said this applied not only to “MS” but to his circle, whose ranks he said have been thinning since the party’s 3.3% election result. Pieridis also asked whether EDEK supporters had grasped what had happened in recent days with Christodoulou’s candidacy, adding: “The parastate is alive and well.” He concluded that EDEK needed a thorough debate on its ideology, its democratic functioning, its statute and its organisational restructuring, and that within the next year, and before the next presidential election, the party needed to clarify what role it truly wants to play in society. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Cyprus police cells hold 77 inmates in space built for 40 Isotita takes fight over Maltezos dismissal to court and parliament Rejected pension cut idea back on the table, sources say DISY, government trade truce for a day as rift hardens 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 Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.