The developments in the camp of the two major parties of the opposition for the presidential elections are postponed for the next few days (probably next week).
Stefanos Stefanou and Nicolas Papadopoulos are expected to settle their second meeting, which will clarify the scene around the possibility of cooperation or not. Based on the data available at the moment, reaching an agreement seems extremely difficult "but not impossible", according to executives of the two parties, something that will depend on the willingness of both parties to go beyond. The leaders of the two parties are postponing their meeting for a while, both to avoid having to make decisions under time pressure and to exhaust every possibility of dialogue. However, despite the fact that they are buying some time, if there are no drastic differences in the next few days then the shipwreck should be considered inevitable.
The DIKO entered the dialogue by proposing the name of its president, Nicolas Papadopoulos, and as an alternative suggestion, the name of the deputy president, Christiana Erotokritou. Stefanos Stefanou made it clear to Nicolas Papadopoulos that his candidacy is facing opposition from the party's grassroots. Polls that have both parties separately confirm the argument put forward by the AKEL leadership, something that Nicolas Papadopoulos himself acknowledges.
They are discussing Christiana
The name of Christiana Erotokritou is not ruled out a priori but is received with varying reactions at the level of the AKEL leadership. Some cadres discuss that it is a proposal that could be discussed and some others maintain reservations, especially with regard to the Cyprus problem. In any case, however, AKEL seems willing to thoroughly discuss its options before closing the door on DIKO, because it realises that without broader cooperation with other political forces, the goal of change becomes distant or, in any case, even more difficult. The Politburo meeting scheduled for yesterday was postponed for the next few days, while according to Cyprus Times, the issue will be referred to the Central Committee for discussion.
The names submitted by AKEL (Achilleas Demetriades, Erato Markoulli, Tasos Christofides) do not meet the wishes of DIKO, which still has as an alternative the case of Nikos Christodoulides. The scenario of AKEL or DIKO proposing other names beyond those that have been heard is not excluded, but remains remote.
However, as soon as the possibility of AKEL-DIKO cooperation becomes remote, time will start to become pressing for the two parties, especially if they each follow their own course. An agreement between the two major opposition parties will give momentum to the candidate they nominate, and the remaining months until the elections are considered a satisfactory period of time.
However, if the effort does not bear fruit, then things will become more difficult for both parties, which will be asked to cover the distance of the election race with their own forces. In case the attempt to cooperate with DIKO fails, AKEL will turn to other opposition parties and if there are no surprises or reversals, the candidate will be sought from the three aforementioned names, namely Achilleas Demetriades, Erato Kozakou Markoullis and Tasos Christofides.
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