The decision of the three candidates for the presidency of EDEK to withdraw in favor of Limassol District Chairman Nikos Anastasios, does not dismiss the risk of introversion and split a few months before the parliamentary elections. The intra -party dispute is ultimately inevitable and the consequences unpredictable.
The appearance of Nikos Anastasios as a candidate for joint acceptance and the joint statement of support by Elias Myrianthos, Mario Hannidis and Morfakis Solomonidis, did not convince all Edekites. Already, the Chairman of the Larnaca District Committee, Diomedes Diomedes, said he would apply for President of EDEK. Besides, there is an ongoing political rivalry between Morfakis Solomonidis and Marios Hannidis with the backdrop of parliamentary elections, which took the form of a confrontation over who would be elected deputy chairman.
The dolphins
Marinos Sizopoulos’ surprise decision to hand over the party’s presidency brought to light the political ambitions and dynamics that existed in EDEK. It was a common secret that Morfakis Solomonidis wished to succeed Marin Sizopoulos in the presidency, while Marios Hannidis also fed.
The debate on succession began in mid -2024, when Marinos Sizopoulos made it clear that he would not claim a parliamentary headquarters and that he would leave the party after the parliamentary elections. In fact, the name of Larnaca Andrea Apostolou was also heard. Eventually, Mr. Apostolou made it clear that he was not interested in the party’s presidency, while Morfakis Solomonidis and Marios Hannidis opened their papers when they applied for the presidency.
The like
The intra -party conflicts of previous years and the deletions of strong personalities such as Dimitris Papadakis and Kostis Efstathiou have created a void of succession that are trying to fill younger executives. However, panic was caused to many older and today’s executives, who saw the risk of introversion and raised the idea of a candidacy for a common acceptance.
As a result, titanic efforts were made to persuade some former executives to assume the role of the transitional president in order to avoid the frontal conflict between Hannidis and Solomonidis. Consultations for a common acceptance nomination first focused on Kouli Mavronikola’s face, with no positive result.
The press was leaking information that Morfakis Solomonidis was very resistance. This was also the goal of many parties involved. “Marinos Sizopoulos’ likes had to be withdrawn,” a party source told P. “The stadium,” he added, “was refined by Mr. Sizopoulos.”
The impasse forced Pafos MP Elias Mirianthous to take on this role, announcing a candidacy for the presidency. Thus, three nominations for the presidency of EDEK were submitted before the Committee. However, they did not cease to make efforts for a common acceptance. The decision of Marios Hannidis and Elias Mirianthus to call for the party members’ register and to leave Morfakis Solomonidis that he had access to the catalyst. There were now shadows and the credibility of the electoral process was in danger.
How did we get to Anastasiou
“P” reports that, on the morning of the previous Saturday (May 10th), Pafos MP and a candidate for the Presidency of Elias Mirianthous phoned the chairman of the District Committee by Pafos Vassos Dimitriou and invited him to take the initiative to initiate them.
Vassos Dimitriou came into contact with the other chairments of the District Committees and began intensive consultations to find the right person, who would assume the role of the transitional president until the EDEK electoral conference in the autumn of 2026.
A party source told P that the only one who disagreed with the effort was the chairman of the Larnaca District Committee, Diomedes Diomedes. Eventually Morfakis Solomonidis was called to a meeting in Limassol with the Presidents of the Paphos and Limassol District Committees. The information indicates that the consultations lasted for many hours. They started at noon in Limassol and ended in the evening at the office of MP and candidate Elias Mirianthus in Paphos. There was a telephone conversation with Marios Hannidis and the outcome was positive.
A party executive told P that at the table of talks it was said that Nikos Anastasiou would be a transitional president. So the three candidates have oen on honor that they would be withdrawn from the race and support Nikos Anastasiou.
What does Anastasiou say
However, Nikos Anastasiou told P that there is no commitment to take on the role of the transitional president himself and then to leave. He specifically stated that “the electoral conference has the right of each member to apply”, adding that it is not right to deprive him of this right in advance. “If I do,” he added, “to join the party to go on a winning mark in the 2026 parliamentary elections and the world is satisfied and asking to stay in the presidency, will I reply that I took up for a year and will I leave?” He even wondered whether this would make sense, saying that “I will take over the great load at this critical moment, if I do my mission, then, why should I remove this right?”
He then made it clear that his commitment is to unite the party and open to the executives who were distancing themselves and to lead the EDEK to the parliamentary elections and “then, with the right and democratic processes, with complete transparency and open registries, to lead to a conference”. He said it was not his intention of becoming the party’s president, saying that the proposal he received was a thunderbolt.
Was there an agreement?
The decision of the three candidates to withdraw Nikos Anastasios prompted the reaction of the Chairman of the Larnaca District Committee Diomedes Diomedes, who believed that this agreement was a mockery.
Mr Diomedes believed that the old executives had to give room to the younger ones and had no candidacy for this. But the decision of Marios Hannidis and Morfakis Solomonidis to withdraw in favor of Nikos Anastasios changed the data. So he decided to apply for president.
However, “P” reports that there was an agreement between Morfakis Solomonidis and Diomedes Diomedes on the position of Deputy President. Called to comment on the information, Mr Diomedes told P that there was no agreement. “No one,” he noted, “could not secure me the position of deputy president.” This information was also denied by Morfakis Solomonidis in statements to P, who said no one could control a multilateral body such as the Central Committee.
Central Committee
Now the eyes of all the Eden are facing the Central Committee, which will meet in the coming days to make decisions in relation to the new presidency’s nomination process.
Some sources within the party have told P that there may be some objections to some nominations considered by some replacement. If the objections are finally raised, then the Central Committee will be called upon to decide “on the amount of the party and state post that may be held by a member of the professional political personnel”, as set out in Article 49 of the Articles of Association. This applies to the Director General of the Morfakis Solomonidis Party, who applied for an alternate chairman, provoking some reaction. Of course, Morfakis Solomonidis’s side believes that this is not the first time a member of the paid personnel has been claiming a central official.
A supporter of Mr Solomonidis’ candidacy told P that this happened in the case of Dimitris Papadakis, who served as secretary of the Central Committee when he was a member of the paid staff. “There are many examples,” he noted, “like the case of Antonis Koutalianos when he was Secretary General of the Central Committee, Takis Christodoulou, who was paid and at the same time chairman of the Nicosia District Committee, Doros Theodorou and others.” He even reversed the fire, saying that the Central Committee should consider whether Marios Hannidis is a member of EDEK for five consecutive years, as provided by Article 38 of the Articles of Association.