With the decision of the DISY General Assembly, the discussion on the presidential elections has actually begun. In your opinion, is it too early to enter the presidential debate?
It is certainly too early not only for presidential debate but mainly for election campaigning. It is very negative for the country and for the functioning of the institutions and the parties to have an election period of 18 months or more. This time I believe that the election campaign started the day after the last presidential election. There are statements to this effect by party leaders.
Is it too early for DISY in particular? One could say that for tactical reasons the ruling party was able to wait for the moves of the other parties and then put its cards on the table. Do you agree? Until recently I don't think it knew whether the current president would be re-elected. On the other hand, an internal campaign for the party's 2023 candidate began within DISY immediately after the parliamentary elections. But the party, like all parties now, neither identifies nor covers the ideological-political space it wants to represent. This has created centrifugal forces. Given the above, it could not wait. Apart from that, the sense of power he feels also creates a special role in the way he operates.
How do you see the scene shaping up in case the Minister of Foreign Affairs decides to be a candidate, outside of DISY? De facto we will have a decision that will change the balance of power, maybe even the terms of the game, won't it?
In such a case, so he will run as an independent, and of course it will change the balance of power. Just as the candidacy of George Kolokasidis, for example, changes them, as do other candidacies. Because all of them, some more, some less, take away from the potential, and I underline the word potential, basket of party votes.
Do you think that opposition parties can reach a minimum understanding and claim the Presidency of the Republic with a common candidate?
[/b]Theoretically they can. In practice, not easy at all. Ease or difficulty will be determined by the criteria. The criteria will be the Cyprus problem, the economy, health, the environment and so on, or simply the logic of participation in power and therefore the eligibility of the candidate, full stop. If we are talking about an old-style understanding, i.e. an agreed framework of principles, a common programme, a post-election way of working together, that is one thing. If we are only talking about joint support for a candidate with electoral potential, that is one thing. The first form of cooperation is extremely difficult.
What I have mentioned in my previous answer also applies to this possibility. The determinants that will shape a possible cooperation between the two parties and any other are two: first, the criteria and second, the common trust in the candidate. The parties have all, for various and different reasons, in practice, over the last fifteen years, ruled out a number of candidates they could use. But this is history that they now find before them.
Do you think that the Cyprus problem will be at stake in the presidential election? Is that the overriding criterion for citizens when they vote for president?It should have been. Cyprus because of Cyprus is at twelve. But here other things come first. But this is what people have in the back of their minds when they go to the ballot box. Besides, it is no coincidence that whatever the polls before the elections, on the day of the elections, in the post-election exit polls, people rank it in first place.
What are the other qualitative characteristics that will largely determine the choice of citizens?These are shown in the occasional surveys and are various and often contradictory to each other. Such as they want the candidate to be knowledgeable and experienced but also indestructible. A bit difficult. They want him to master the art of politics but have nothing to do with parties. A bit difficult. He's got plenty of those. It saddens me because in most surveys the "competence" criterion is not and has never been very high in Cyprus.
On the Cyprus issue there seems to be no data to justify expectations of any development. Can Tuesday's social meeting lead to a new effort?[/b]No way. The Cyprus problem will not move forward unless Turkey moves away from its irrational and expansionist positions. For that to happen, it must be persuaded by those who can persuade it, but who are unwilling to do so.
Do you think the UN will wait until after the presidential election to attempt a new initiative?
Yes. I think they will wait but not because of our elections but because of the developments inside Turkey. On the one hand it delays any timetable, but on the other hand it gives time for appropriate manipulations. But we are already immersed in the election whirlwind.Contents of this article including associated images are owned by
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