Andreas Mavroyiannis does not belong to the Coalition and was not a key cog in the Anastasiades government, AKEL Secretary General Stefanos Stefanou said on Friday, who noted that AKEL, in the person of Andreas Mavroyiannis, is making a non-partisan, independent, experienced and knowledgeable proposal, through which it proposes to others to join him in order to turn the page in the country.
In his statements, after the meeting he had with a delegation of the Young Workers Department of EDON, in whose microscope was put the campaign organized, in relation to the issues and problems faced by young workers, Mr. Stefanou noted that his party's proposal "brings together all those necessary characteristics that ensure that we can have a progressive President with a progressive programme that covers the basic positions of AKEL.
He also added that with this particular proposal "we have an independent non-partisan President, who can address the distrust that exists in a part of society in relation to party agendas, and we also have a proposal that has a history, knowledge and experience behind it".
Asked to comment on Christodoulides' candidacy, the AKEL Secretary General said that Christodoulides confirms them, since "he declares himself a Synagerimos man, he declares himself a Synagerimos man".
"Therefore," he said, "it is not arbitrary what we said yesterday that both Mr Christodoulides and Mr Neophytou are two sides of the same government and the same party, DISY."
He added that "there is also a literature that is being developed and they are trying to make it a fact that Mr Mavroyiannis also comes from the Synagerimos area and from the Synagerimos government" with the AKEL Secretary General noting "no relation".
According to Stefanos Stefanou, "Mr Christodoulides, as a government minister and a key member of this government, has defended and is a participant in these policies from which AKEL wants to get rid of. There is no need for me to argue for the candidacy of Mr Neophytou as well".
On the contrary, referring to Mavroyiannis' candidacy, he said that "as a career diplomat he served Cyprus from various springboards and posts and served all the Presidents of the Republic of Cyprus, from Glafkos Clerides onwards, with the aim to honour Cyprus, to honour his duties and to honour the trust that all the Presidents have shown in him for the various tasks that they have entrusted to him."
"So," he added, "he is neither a Coalitionist, nor does he belong to the Coalition, nor is he a key cog in the Anastasiades Government. He was not of the Anastasiades Government. We, therefore, in the person of Mr. Mavroyiannis, are making a non-partisan proposal, independent, with experience and knowledge. Through this candidacy, AKEL proposes to others to join forces with us to turn the page in our country."
Asked if more meetings with parties would follow, Stefanou said that AKEL had issued a public invitation "to those parties that declare and have the position that we must end this situation that we have been living in for ten years because of Synagerimos, and turn the page."
He stressed that his party has open doors and is addressing these political forces, as well as social forces and society in general, expressing readiness for dialogue.
Asked what the next step is in case things do not go their way and there is a negative result for Mr Mavroyiannis, the AKEL General Secretary expressed the view that first they should let the procedures proceed, adding that "anyway, the procedure is provided for by the statute".
As he explained, after the discussion and the consultative secret ballot in the party groups, they will come back to the Central Committee to assess the situation and on 5 June there will be the Pancyprian conference, where the final decisions will be taken on the candidate that AKEL will support.
Speaking further about Mavroyiannis' candidacy, he said that "when public officials work towards justifying the expectations of the office for the benefit of Cyprus, they should be credited".
He said that Mavroyiannis "had a political appointment as Deputy Minister under the Christofias administration and there he successfully carried out something that made Cyprus proud and I mean the Cyprus Presidency of the EU".
"The fact that I noted that from the various political posts he held, he cooperated with all political forces, this also shows the ability behind the problems to see the solutions and to seek the joining of forces and compositions through different views in order to achieve the desired which is the solution of the problems," he said.
Moreover, he said that Mavroyiannis had closer contact with party officials to see the basic views on other issues on which he had no friction, noting that they have found that on the basic items where AKEL has red lines, Andreas Mavroyiannis covers them.
"Besides, we could not make a proposal to a candidate who would not cover the basic issues that AKEL is interested in and which determine the course of the country and the people. The search for an independent candidate always requires excesses, but AKEL's excesses over time have always been such that we do not invalidate the basic red lines that AKEL has. So it is a proposal with content and a proposal that opens up prospects for broader consensus," he concluded.
Source: CNA
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