The President of DIKO Nikolas Papadopoulos was hosted at Mesimeri and Kati, who spoke about the election contest next Sunday and also about the hand of friendship that tends towards the Democratic Alarm.
Initially he stated that it is addressed to the entire Cypriot society. "The dilemma next Sunday is very simple. Either we will have a widely accepted government, or we will have a one-party AKEL government."
He explained that DISY's decision to vote at will is fully respected. "We continue to address the Cypriot society and the supporters of Averof Neophytos because they share the same concerns." He also said that in the past they cooperated with DISY.
He noted that the narrative is one of the choices among those DISY officials said in previous years that AKEL with its policies led to bankruptcy, degradation of the Cypriot economy, unemployment of the order of 17%, in social grocery stores. "I agree with Averof who said that I get scared when I hear Andreas Mavroyiannis talking about the economy." He added that AKEL led us to the precipice and for nine years they did not help to get the country off the precipice."
He went on to say that "the question that must be asked of the alarmist world who put their backs to get the country out of downgrades, bankruptcy and the memorandum is whether we will reward those who led us into bankruptcy and did not help afterwards".
Mr. Papadopoulos recalled that "they demonized each one of us who tried to make the difficult decisions to get the country out of the memorandum. What did AKEL say then about the Averov-Nikola duo. They criticized us because we were trying to get the country out of the ruins."
He clarified that at the moment some important dilemmas remain. "Averof is not a candidate, he is not the candidate of DIKO and we do not have parliamentary elections. There are two candidates. Nikos Christodoulidis and Andreas Mavroyiannis".
He emphasized that DIKO would have no problem with the Minister of Finance coming from any party, let alone from DISY where we have common convergences. "We believe in what Nikos Christodoulidis says and in the widely accepted government."
He then spoke about the issue of corruption and whether he agrees with DISY, noting that all the Cypriot people agree that measures must be taken to remove the shadows that have been created over the country. "We replied to Mr. Phaidonos that Mr. Christodoulidis did not take money from Russian oligarchs. Was lying. Mr. Neophytou took money from Russian oligarchs."
He added that Mr. Neophytou was judged by the Cypriot people. "We had meetings with DISY. Which parties fought against the forces of populism, were demonized and stigmatized in order to pass difficult bills."
He also wondered what will be the positions of Andreas Mavroyiannis on immigration. "Will it be what he was saying a few days ago that we should not present obstacles to the applicants and should allow them to enter freely"?
Finally, he said that they are optimistic for a victory for Mr. Christodoulidis on Sunday. "We will not leave anything to chance, we do not underestimate the challenges ahead of us. We will try to convey the messages of Nikos Christodoulidis to the voters. And every vote counts. Our appeal to the bitter voters of last Sunday is that we have to decide on the next five years."