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DIKO ELECTS NEW LEADER TODAY AFTER WEEKS OF ACRIMONY
By Elias Hazou
Cyprus Mail
22 Oct 2006
RULING DIKO goes to the polls today to elect a new party leader,
ending an acrimonious campaign with no shortage of low blows.
Back in August, Tassos Papadopoulos dropped a bombshell when he
announced he was standing down.
Papadopoulos said he had decided to step down because his duties
as President did not allow him fully to respond to his duties as
DIKO chairman.
However, his resignation was also seen as kick starting the 2008
presidential race. In a farewell speech earlier this month,
Papadopoulos appealed for unity within DIKO, but subsequent
developments have been anything but harmonious.
Papadopoulos took over the reins of DIKO in 2000 from the late founder
Spyros Kyprianou. But the day-to-day running of the party was delegated
to no.2 Nicos Cleanthous A lawyer by profession, Cleanthous, regarded
as toeing the "Papadopoulos line", now faces off against the younger
Marios Karoyian, a former presidential spokesman.
Karoyian is portraying himself as a link between the old and new
guards inside DIKO. He has pledged to open up the party and improve
its functioning, which he says has grown stale.
In this respect, Karoyian's endeavour has been likened to that of
PASOK leader George Papandreou in Greece: more power to ordinary
party members.
On a live radio show this week, Karoyian - derided by detractors as
an upstart - indirectly criticised Cleanthous, saying that DIKO could
have done better in May's legislative elections.
Cleanthous countered, noting that the party received 17.8 per cent
of the popular vote, and that in all fairness he should be given at
least some of the credit.
"Why is it that I am saddled with the negative things, never the good
things?" Cleanthous complained.
The campaign had turned nasty early on, when members of the Cleanthous
camp started picking on Karoyian's Armenian descent.
In a letter printed in a newspaper, a Cleanthous supporter accused
Karoyian of not doing his military service - Armenians are not called
up to the National Guard - and cast a shadow over his patriotism.
Sources close to Karoyian dismissed this as racist behaviour and a
dishonest attempt at prejudicing DIKO members.
Cleanthous has denied all along any connection to this rumour peddling,
even speaking out against it.
But Karoyian's cohorts have also managed to dig up dirt on Cleanthous:
they say that at one time Cleanthous "left" DIKO to join the ranks
of another political grouping, Enosis Kentrou (Union of the Centre).
The accusation struck a raw nerve with Cleanthous.
"I did not abandon DIKO, I merely became inactive for a while,"
he said.
"And this was at a time when the party came to power. Show me another
politician who would forsake the spoils of power."
At a gathering of supporters at Nicosia's Hilton Hotel this week,
Cleanthous appealed to DIKO members' sense of responsibility.
"Do the right thing," was his slogan, implying he was the man to
ensure stability and continuity.
Commentators note that the new party chief will have a tough task
ahead: the municipal elections - which strained relations between
the government coalition -are just around the corner.
Already, cracks have been shaping inside the party: members of the
Nicosia district branch are disgruntled at having been left out of
the decision-making process. They say that the mayoral candidates
for the Nicosia district have been imposed on them from the top.
Karoyian is almost certain to tap into this disaffection.
The party has also been rocked by allegations from former heavyweight
Nicos Pittokopitis, who claims he was robbed of the Paphos mayorship.
Pittokopitis threatened to unleash a "political typhoon" of revelations
regarding the wheeling and dealing between DIKO, EDEK and AKEL for
the municipalities.
Tomorrow's election will be followed by a vote in DIKO's Central
Committee to nominate an alternate chairman.
By Elias Hazou
Cyprus Mail
22 Oct 2006
RULING DIKO goes to the polls today to elect a new party leader,
ending an acrimonious campaign with no shortage of low blows.
Back in August, Tassos Papadopoulos dropped a bombshell when he
announced he was standing down.
Papadopoulos said he had decided to step down because his duties
as President did not allow him fully to respond to his duties as
DIKO chairman.
However, his resignation was also seen as kick starting the 2008
presidential race. In a farewell speech earlier this month,
Papadopoulos appealed for unity within DIKO, but subsequent
developments have been anything but harmonious.
Papadopoulos took over the reins of DIKO in 2000 from the late founder
Spyros Kyprianou. But the day-to-day running of the party was delegated
to no.2 Nicos Cleanthous A lawyer by profession, Cleanthous, regarded
as toeing the "Papadopoulos line", now faces off against the younger
Marios Karoyian, a former presidential spokesman.
Karoyian is portraying himself as a link between the old and new
guards inside DIKO. He has pledged to open up the party and improve
its functioning, which he says has grown stale.
In this respect, Karoyian's endeavour has been likened to that of
PASOK leader George Papandreou in Greece: more power to ordinary
party members.
On a live radio show this week, Karoyian - derided by detractors as
an upstart - indirectly criticised Cleanthous, saying that DIKO could
have done better in May's legislative elections.
Cleanthous countered, noting that the party received 17.8 per cent
of the popular vote, and that in all fairness he should be given at
least some of the credit.
"Why is it that I am saddled with the negative things, never the good
things?" Cleanthous complained.
The campaign had turned nasty early on, when members of the Cleanthous
camp started picking on Karoyian's Armenian descent.
In a letter printed in a newspaper, a Cleanthous supporter accused
Karoyian of not doing his military service - Armenians are not called
up to the National Guard - and cast a shadow over his patriotism.
Sources close to Karoyian dismissed this as racist behaviour and a
dishonest attempt at prejudicing DIKO members.
Cleanthous has denied all along any connection to this rumour peddling,
even speaking out against it.
But Karoyian's cohorts have also managed to dig up dirt on Cleanthous:
they say that at one time Cleanthous "left" DIKO to join the ranks
of another political grouping, Enosis Kentrou (Union of the Centre).
The accusation struck a raw nerve with Cleanthous.
"I did not abandon DIKO, I merely became inactive for a while,"
he said.
"And this was at a time when the party came to power. Show me another
politician who would forsake the spoils of power."
At a gathering of supporters at Nicosia's Hilton Hotel this week,
Cleanthous appealed to DIKO members' sense of responsibility.
"Do the right thing," was his slogan, implying he was the man to
ensure stability and continuity.
Commentators note that the new party chief will have a tough task
ahead: the municipal elections - which strained relations between
the government coalition -are just around the corner.
Already, cracks have been shaping inside the party: members of the
Nicosia district branch are disgruntled at having been left out of
the decision-making process. They say that the mayoral candidates
for the Nicosia district have been imposed on them from the top.
Karoyian is almost certain to tap into this disaffection.
The party has also been rocked by allegations from former heavyweight
Nicos Pittokopitis, who claims he was robbed of the Paphos mayorship.
Pittokopitis threatened to unleash a "political typhoon" of revelations
regarding the wheeling and dealing between DIKO, EDEK and AKEL for
the municipalities.
Tomorrow's election will be followed by a vote in DIKO's Central
Committee to nominate an alternate chairman.