With the party leadership elections for Disy on Saturday, the Cyprus Mail has prepared a profile of the two candidates. Annita Demetriou and Demetris Demetriou. So either way, the winner will inevitably be a Demetriou.
Current House President, Annita Demetriou’s foray into politics was not as easy and smooth as her style may suggest.
Born in Troullous village in Larnaca, the 37-year-old politician started off way back in 2012 when she was 27. She began as a community councillor in Troullous, moved on to be Disy’s district secretary between 2013- 2015 and Dιsy Larnaca’s financial manager between 2014 – 2016.
The year 2016 was when she really became known across Cyprus and managed to turn a difficult situation to her advantage. Ahead of the parliamentary elections, during in-house Disy elections on which MPs would run for each district, Demetriou was elected to be on the Larnaca ticket.
Suddenly, Demetriou had apparently “volunteered” to withdraw her candidacy according to the party, paving the way for runner up volunteer commissioner Yiannakis Yiannaki to take her place.
The news at the time caused an uproar, both within the party ranks and across the public. Disy members themselves were furious that they had gone to vote only to be met with tactics and strategies that would ensure it was certain candidates that would make it, doing away with democratic procedures.
Yiannaki eventually decided to step back, paving the way for Demetriou to get on with her candidacy – eventually securing the MP position.
Her handling of the situation mirrored what would eventually become reflective of her political mannerism. She neither criticised Neophytou, Yiannaki or anyone else, stressing that what had happened was not what was the most important issue at hand, but the way forward was. Yiannaki later went on to become embroiled in a scandal related to fraudulent educational qualifications.
Another irony – or sense of karma – that has followed Demetriou’s career lies in her handling of comments made by former Disy spokesman Prodromos Prodromou. At the time of the furore, seeking to defend the party’s move over Demetriou, he said on national television that “the decision we had to make was based on the fact that we are running in elections, not a beauty pageant.”
Prodromou went on to become education minister though the statement has been thrown in his face a number of times over the years, as Demetriou went on to progress at parliament during her two-time election as MP and eventually became House President – the first woman and youngest person to take on the post, aged 35.
She has also been the Disy’s deputy leader since February 2020.
Just over two weeks ago, she declared she would be running for the party’s leadership position. As soon as she made her official announcement at Disy’s headquarters, the party leader who held the post for ten years Averof Neophytou, said he was bowing out of the race.
Demetriou studied social and political sciences at the University of Cyprus and holds an MA in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Kent, United Kingdom. She was spokesperson for Nicos Anastasiades during his candidacy in the presidential elections of 2018. Demetriou is married to Andreas Kyprianou.
Nicosia-born contender Demetris Demetriou has been one of the public faces of the party for five years. The 41-year-old comes from a completely different background unrelated to politics, being an electrical engineer.
He has been the party spokesman since 2018 but withdrew last month when he announced he was running for the party’s leadership.
Demetriou’s journey with Disy began in 2019 where he was the deputy party leader for Disy’s youth group, followed by heading the party’s young scientists organisation between 2013 – 2017.
The contender is currently serving his second term in parliament with the party, where he scored the second highest votes from all MPs across all parties.
Despite his public persona, Demetriou has avoided large clashes with other contenders, keeping a relatively low profile and staying away from any major scandals.
He was the first Disy cadre to announce he was running for the party’s top post, stressing that although certain party members threw their weight behind his contender, he was going to focus on the “genuine and true people” of Disy.
Along with his competitor for the post, Demetriou has stressed the party is in need of unity and at a critical turning point of its history.
He was one of the party members that openly criticised outgoing party leader Averof Neophytou for setting an election date so near to the election defeat, saying it was an attempt to detract from efforts to reflect on how the party came to experience such a colossal and historic loss.
“I firmly believe that what the Democratic Rally needs today is a total restart.”
His moral compass, he said includes the values of freedom, justice and transparency “but above all the reunification of our homeland”.
He stressed that write-off’s will be one of the main issues he will try to combat, concerning a number of Disy members that were kicked out of the party over the past few months.
Demetriou studied electrical engineering at the University of Patra and obtained a masters in business management from the University of Cyprus. He is married with Dina Penga and they have one daughter.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Mail
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Mail
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