Rift widens between DISY and Christodoulides ahead of presidential race

Politics disyelectionsNikos ChristodoulidesTop News Rift widens between DISY and Christodoulides ahead of presidential race Pindarou Dhsy 1536x864 Relevant News Rift widens between DISY and Christodoulides ahead of presidential race 5 August 2026 How to spend an August night under the stars in Cyprus 5 August 2026 Orangerie reopens at The Landmark Nicosia 5 August 2026 Frixos Dalitis 5 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Cyprus’s right-wing political camp is in open conflict, with DISY headquarters, on Pindarou Street, and the Presidential Palace now locked in a battle for dominance ahead of the presidential election. President Nikos Christodoulides and former DISY leader Averof Neofytou are trading pointed messages over the Cyprus problem, while DISY vice-president Giannis Karousos has kept up daily attacks on the government over a cabinet reshuffle, a stance that has unsettled other members of the party’s leadership. Tension had already been building over the reshuffle and speculation that Tina Pavlou would be given a ministerial post. Christos Angelides’ name was floated in the early stages of the discussion, but that possibility has since been dropped. A presidential election poll presented to the DISY leadership last week, and later made public, added to the strain. On Monday, an interview President Christodoulides gave to Elli Kotziamani on ANT1 fuelled the dispute further: he repeated that he is proud of his DISY background and called on the party to clarify where it disagrees with the government. “DISY will continue to act responsibly” DISY’s response, issued on Tuesday, was sharply critical of the president over his interview remarks. The party said the president chooses to hide behind parliament and political parties instead of taking responsibility for the government’s handling of the cost of living, foot-and-mouth disease, water supply, electricity, wildfires and major infrastructure projects, adding that responsibility “cannot be shifted.” DISY said it acted, and would continue to act, in the country’s interest, citing its amendments to the tax reform bill as an example, and said it would keep pushing for the pension bill to be tabled. Messages for Karousos too Separately, DISY leadership discussed Karousos’s frequent public statements. According to information gathered by Phileleftheros, discomfort was expressed within the party that the reshuffle story was being kept alive in a way that made DISY look weak, instead of putting the spotlight on the president’s own delay. Several leadership members feel the party should emphasise its responsible conduct rather than threaten to vote down government bills. Others in the party believe Karousos simply expressed, more sharply, the same position held by the leadership: that Christodoulides cannot poach DISY figures. Tina Pavlou has never been a DISY member, and although appointed to the Council for Monitoring Government Work, she did not sit on the party’s political bureau. The vice-president hits back again Karousos returned to the attack on Tuesday with a new post targeting Christodoulides’s reference to DISY figures who backed the AKEL candidate in the second round of the presidential election. He said that whoever chose to break with his own party’s decision is not entitled to lecture others on political consistency today. He added that DISY’s decision for the second round had been clear: a vote of conscience, and that while he had voiced his own views publicly and submitted them to party bodies, every DISY member was free to act according to their conscience. He said that was different from turning against the party itself, an apparent reference to Christodoulides’s 2012 appointment as a representative of Cyprus’s EU presidency. Neofytou’s post Neofytou also responded to the president’s interview remarks in a social media post, writing that Christodoulides “got the hint” but was pretending not to understand, and that the real issue was not personal but whether an “indefinite pass” would be given on the Cyprus problem. He wrote that if the president goes for a solution, he will be by his side, but warned that if not, he would answer to history. He added that DISY had committed in March 2025 to opening four crossing points, and that if a year and a half had not been enough to open even one with the Turkish Cypriots, it raised the question of how many more decades would be needed to resolve the Cyprus problem and allow refugees to return to their properties. This post from Neofytou was itself a response to the president’s comment that he would not be taking a holiday, and to the president’s claim that an earlier post by the former DISY leader had not been about him. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News How to spend an August night under the stars in Cyprus Orangerie reopens at The Landmark Nicosia Vetrina brings all-day dining and deli concept to central Nicosia Cyprus-born pianist, 13, wins bronze at Vienna International Piano Competition Interior Minister to launch autumn push to cut number of deputy mayors Temperature slightly lowers, 38 degree peak Wednesday President Christodoulides reshuffles cabinet with boosted DIKO presence Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.