The newly elected President of the Republic Mr.Nicos Christodoulides, in his statements after the final result of the 2023 Presidential Elections from the offices of his electoral staff, said the following: "I would like to thank you warmly. I want to thank you warmly for what you have achieved. All of you were the protagonists from the beginning, you were the first and foremost to believe and prove that the best mechanism is the Cypriot people. Through you, allow me to thank our volunteers all over free Cyprus. I will personally visit them in the coming days. I would like to invite you all in a moment to meet me at "Eleftheria".
Q. Mr. President, what are your first priorities?
From tomorrow I am starting meetings in relation to the appointment of the Cabinet. As I mentioned, during the election campaign I came up with certain options, options that stakeholders knew nothing about. And I will begin those contacts tomorrow, so that we will be all set for the first, I would say, top political act. At the same time I will ask to see the leaders of the parties, Mr. Neophytou, Mr. Stephanou, and of course the parties that supported my effort to inform them of my thoughts and concerns, to exchange views and to make my decisions. When do you expect to announce the government shape?
As planned in this regard. There may be announcements, not all at once, within the week. I repeat I have come up with specific persons. I will have to inform all these people and announcements will be made. But the meeting with the party leaders is also crucial. I repeat both those who supported me and those who did not support me. It is what I said during the election campaign. The need to form a government, a government of broad social acceptance, was not a campaign slogan. It was something that we will put into practice and you will see it.
Q. Mr. President, if you can clarify to the Cabinet how many women will have ministerial positions and whether in the Cabinet you are thinking of reappointing persons who have served as Ministers in the last decade
I have said in relation to women's participation about 50-50. I repeat, what we have promised the Cypriot people we will put into practice. Regarding your second question, the plans, as they have been made at the moment, we are talking about new people who have not served before.
Q. Have you had any communication with foreign leaders, apart from them, with Ersin Tatar will there be any communication, has there been?
No, there hasn't been so far, but there has been communication with our Turkish Cypriot compatriots from the wider civil society and parliamentary parties. Apart from expressing my support for the difficult times they are going through, the clear message is the need to work together to break the deadlock. The current state of affairs I have said it many times and I will not tire of saying it, and I will work to reverse it cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem. The current state of affairs is only getting worse, which makes the Cyprus solution even more remote. That is why, using our status as a member state of the European Union, we have a concrete plan and design on how we will seek to break the deadlock. With regard to communication with foreign leaders, I believe that the communications I have had are indicative of the external orientation of the Republic of Cyprus. Of course, with the Greek Prime Minister, the President of the Republic, my friend the Greek Foreign Minister and foreign ministers from neighbouring countries who have already communicated with me, the French President and the President of the European Parliament."."
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12/2/2023
(MH)
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