Haris Georgiadis was hosted at Protoselidos, a few hours before the crucial meeting of the political office of the party that will take place in the afternoon.
The Deputy President of DISY spoke about the next day in Pindarou and about the heavy climate that prevails at the time when an admittedly difficult decision to support one of the two gladiators of the Second Round must be made.
"We have never faced this dilemma before.
To have a second round and not have a candidate. This creates a difficulty. I cannot say that the two that passed, with the data that characterize them, offer us an easy and clear choice.
I say this with great sincerity and respect for both of them. On the one hand, Mr. Mavroyiannis is a candidate of AKEL, he is supported by AKEL. A meeting took place in a very secular atmosphere, I can't say that anything concrete comes out. We have serious differences with AKEL, mainly on matters of economy and foreign policy, even on the Cyprus issue. But there are also difficulties with the choice of Christodoulidis". Staying on the topic of Mavroyiannis, Mr. Georgiadis reiterated that both options have their difficulties. we are asked to manage this issue as DISY.
On the subject of Christodoulidis and whether there can be cooperation, Mr. Georgiadis said that there is a difficulty here as well because the findings we have made up to now are not negated. "One of the two will be the new President. I don't want to prejudge the decisions of the political office, but it may not be either of the two as DISY's choice since there is also the option of voting against your will. As citizens we will choose one of the two as President".
What went wrong?
Asked about what went wrong and DISY could not qualify for the second Sunday, Mr. Georgiadis said, "I want to remember where this pre-election effort started and where it reached. Even our own staff's first readings were in the single digits. They then rose just over 10% in the early stages. At these stages the candidacy of Christodoulidis was much higher. The start did not find the two on the same level. Averof's candidacy started from very low. The development of the pre-election campaign did not slow down. The data was improving, we reached a point where it wasn't enough. The percentages are not bad, we approached the percentages of the previous MPs, but I would set the bar higher. Perhaps the fact that we were seeing the rally played a role. We didn't have the comfort we had in the last elections. Both times we had the comfort of considering the support from friends and supporters of DISY quite certain and we looked beyond...”
"The result is disappointing. We ran for the elections to win them, not to lose and be happy to be in the opposition... this is where our fellow citizens put us, from here we will serve". Obviously we did not convince our fellow citizens, he answered the question why 30% voted for Christodoulidis.
"It does not please me at all that a significant portion moved to other options. But we have to get the messages. I am setting DISY's bar higher, that's why my own concern today... I am very worried, I don't want the gap in DISY to be confirmed and widened. I don't think there is a split in the organized DISY, but personally I don't give away this portion of DISY supporters who made a different choice. To stay away from approaches that result from an emotional charge, such as "let's get over it and stay in a small shop to control it...". We want at all costs to keep friends who made other choices and that a gap is not confirmed, not in the leadership there we are united just fine, but at the base...".
"To ensure that DISY remains united and strong. There have been executive placements.. and I have my opinion. We started to discuss informally but in the afternoon the political office will propose. I think it is right to listen to my colleagues and position ourselves there. We must prevent a danger of being driven to introversion and entrenchment and say "those who are left are good".
The role of the PtD
President Anastasiades is the honorary President of the faction, said the former Minister of Internal Affairs when asked about the role of President Anastasiades.
"He is the living great leader of the faction, as Averof Neophytou also said. It has both a reason and a role. We are not a leadership party. We had a first conversation, it is not right to convey what one or the other said. Neither the President's nor Averof's approaches are black and white. A common finding is that all options have their difficulties. I believe that DISY voters have their own judgment and will anyway. It's a political act that's not so much related to the ballot box, it's a political act whether we're going to show a preference for one candidate or the other.
Regarding the responsibilities of Averof Neophytou, he said that "we are a completely democratic party... in these difficult days I do not want to add additional issues. Now we are in the midst of elections, that's all we have to worry about and I don't want to add to the problems..." he said in closing.
Watch the video: