The first decisive step has been taken in AKEL for the selection of the candidate to support in the 2023 presidential elections, but the road remains long. From today until the end of the month, the name of Andreas Mavroyiannis will be put to the torment of the members of the Left Party, who are asked to ratify the proposal of the Central Committee for the candidacy of the former negotiator.
The choice of Mavroyiannis was far from easy and there were moments when the discussion was very intense in the Central Committee that met over the weekend. Under the circumstances, the 60% of votes that the Political Bureau's proposal for Andreas Mavroyiannis received is not low, but it shows a dithering that may also exist at the level of the party's grassroots. The main reason for this dystocia has to do with the fact that Mavroyiannis has been in charge of managing the Cyprus issue for the last eight years, with which AKEL has been at a complete break. However true it is that Mavroyiannis was a negotiator and not President, as the AKEL leadership rightly reminds us, the task now for Hezekia Papaioannou is to convince members, in the first stage, and voters thereafter, to support the choice of Mavroyiannis.
In absolute numbers, according to reports, Mavroyiannis reportedly got 52 votes, Achilleas Dimitriadis 37, while there were 9 abstentions. Essentially, this is a result that is bordering on a draw. If this delicate balance is repeated at the party's base, it is clear that the degree of difficulty will be even greater.
- He will enter the battle for "the Cyprus we dream of" says Mavroyiannis after the decision of the AKEL Central Committee
- 60% of the Central Committee of AKEL voted for Andreas Mavroyiannis for Presidential
The first messages on social media, however, indicate that the debate at the AKEL base will certainly not be of a procedural nature. For the record, in 2013 Stavros Malas was passed by the Central Committee of AKEL with the votes of 70% of the members of the Central Committee. 25% voted against, while the remaining 5% abstained. In 2018, the Political Bureau's proposal for Mala's candidacy was accepted by the Central Committee by close to 75%.
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