Oriana Papantoniou
Harris Georgiades has told DISY leader Annita Demetriou that he will not take part in the party’s 2028 presidential campaign if former party leader Averof Neofytou is chosen as its candidate, laying bare another rift within the opposition party.
In a letter to Demetriou, Georgiades accused Neofytou of political pressure, saying the possibility that he could run as an independent had remained open until the last moment.
Georgiades said the circumstances had created a fait accompli and amounted to “blatant political blackmail.”
His intervention comes as DISY prepares to choose its candidate for the 2028 presidential election. Neofytou and former health minister George Pamboridis have submitted their candidacies for the party nomination.
Georgiades also questioned Neofytou’s political positions, arguing that on several issues they now differ substantially from DISY’s long-standing views. He said the disagreement had repeatedly surfaced in recent years and had undermined efforts to present DISY as a coherent modern center-right party.
The former finance minister stressed, however, that his decision did not mean he was leaving or distancing himself from DISY. He said he continued to believe the party was a central pillar of the country’s security, stability, and progress.
Georgiades also placed his resignation as president of the Glafkos Clerides Institute at Demetriou’s disposal.
He said his objections were not based on whether Neofytou could win the presidential election. Georgiades noted that he had fully supported Neofytou in the 2023 race, despite unfavorable assessments of his chances at the time.
For DISY, the dispute raises a question that goes beyond who wins the nomination: whether the party can bring its members together behind a candidate for the presidential race ahead.
