DISY delight at election results
By Stefanos Evripidou Published on December 20, 2011
OVER TWO thirds of registered voters turned out for the municipal elections on Sunday across Cyprus, recording a few upsets, kicking out some long-running mayors and generally leaving opposition party DISY extremely happy.
The DISY campaign for the municipal elections focused more on trying to harness a perceived sense of national disaffection following the turmoil post-Mari, a series of economic pitfalls and the stalemate over the Cyprus problem.
DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades saw these elections as a chance to register a vote of no confidence for the government. AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou had different ideas, countering this effort with the view that local elections are just that, a democratic procedure to elect local representatives to run your town or village.
Anastassiades had the last laugh on Sunday, noting that DISY got 26 mayors voted in from a total of 38 the party had backed in the local elections, the most symbolic scalp being that of Eleni Mavrou, who lost her seat as mayor of the capital. The overall share of the spoils won by his party justified its policy to date, noted Anastassiades.
The elections also tested the waters for potential alliances among the parties for the 2013 presidential election. While DISY has been courting EDEK for some time, Anastassiades took a personal gamble supporting DIKO’s own Constantinos Yiorkadjis for Nicosia.
The latter’s victory acted as a litmus test for a possible collaboration in the future, while leaving the door open for potential trouble in the DIKO camp, divided between advocates of party leader Marios Garoyian and supporters of the late former president Tassos Papadopoulos.
DISY’s candidate in Strovolos also unseated the three-term incumbent, adding to the opposition party’s success while Larnaca saw another big victory for the right-wing party.
Former permanent secretary Petros Kareklas also won on a DISY ticket in the occupied Kythrea municipality.
AKEL and DIKO managed to cling on to victory with the ‘sure win’ ticket of Andreas Christou in Limassol while the incumbent Savvas Vergas won a tightly-contested election in Paphos.
Overall, AKEL did not fare too badly, getting eight of their preferred mayors in power in Ayia Napa (Antonis Tsokkos), Dheryneia (Andros Karayiannis), Lysi (Symeon Pastos), Dromolaxia (Kypros Androkou), Ayios Athanasios (Kyriacos Hadjitofis), Kato Poleidhia (Giorgos Georgiou), Peyia (Neophytos Akoursiotis) and Polis Chrysochous (Angelos Georgiou).
DIKO got four of its people in as mayors for Aglandjia, Akanthou, Leivadia and Paphos.
While EDEK were the biggest losers, keeping only Lefkara, a traditional EDEK stronghold with a solid victory for Savvas Xenofontos.
A number of independents also made it in Mesa Yeitonia (Doros Antoniou), Lapithos (Neoptolemos Kotsapas) and Paralimni (Theodoros Pyrillis). The latter proved to be a bit of an upset as Pyrillis is a member of the DISY political bureau, who fought against a DISY-backed candidate and won.
The Greens got on the score sheet with their very own Glafcos Kariolou taking over the helm as the ‘exiled’ mayor of occupied Kyrenia.
The elections saw a number of incumbents lose their seats, the most high-profile being AKEL-backed Nicosia mayor Eleni Mavrou who lost to Constantinos Yiorkadjis, the chosen candidate for DISY, DIKO and EVROKO. Three-term Strovolos mayor Savvas Eliofotou failed to make it a fourth, despite the backing of EDEK, DIKO and AKEL, getting only 44.3 per cent of the vote. His nemesis came in the shape of former permanent secretary Lazaros Savvides who garnered 55.7 per cent with the support of DISY and EVROKO.
Long-running Aglandjia mayor Andreas Petrou had the backing of DISY and EVROKO but was still forced to step down after 25 years in power recording only 39.2 per cent of the vote. His opponent Costas Cortas secured victory with 56.4 per cent, assisted by the support of AKEL, DIKO and EDEK voters.
The same alliance of AKEL, DIKO and EDEK backed Limassol mayor Andreas Christou who kept his seat, as expected, with 58 per cent of the vote to guarantee another five-year term in charge of the coastal town. He also saw his popularity rise by three percentage points compared to the 2006 elections. His opponent, DISY and EVROKO-backed Andreas Kyprianou, gained a respectable 42 per cent in defeat.
The AKEL and DIKO-backed Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas fought hard for re-election in a narrowly contested election, pipping DISY and EDEK’s man Fidias Sarikas by less than two per cent.
In Larnaca, where AKEL normally have a strong showing, the DISY, EDEK and EVROKO-backed Andreas Louroutsiatis won 55.4 per cent of the vote, knocking out the AKEL, DIKO and Greens-backed Nicos Cleanthous, who got 44.6 per cent.
It may be time for Cleanthous to hang up his political boots, as this is the second defeat for the former DIKO deputy in six months, having failed to secure another term in parliament in last May’s parliamentary elections.
No women were elected to the office of mayor in these elections.
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