THE FOUR minority opposition parties ‘of the in-between space’ yesterday concluded on a joint programme for next February’s presidential elections, with EVROKO registering its opposition to the term “bizonal, bicommunal federation” in terms of the Cyprus talks.The programme will be made public in the coming days, said Green Party general secretary Ioanna Panayiotou after the party leaders met yesterday.“We have had an initial exchange of views on the criteria and procedure to choose a common candidate,” said Panayiotou. “The discussion on this matter will continue in a new meeting next week... 1 comment

 POTENTIAL COLLABORATION between the four minority opposition parties in next February’s presidential elections has hit a wall before getting out of the blocks.The leaders of EVROKO, DIKO, EDEK and the Greens failed to reach agreement yesterday on the draft common declaration which would set the foundations for an election programme over the wording of a Cyprus problem solution. EVROKO leader Demetris Syllouris said the minority opposition parties hit a “sticking point” regarding the inclusion of the words bizonal, bicommunal federation in the declaration. He said the discussion would continue tomorrow, adding that the leaders did not discuss potential candidates during yesterday’s meeting... 1 comment

THE FOUR minority parties yesterday submitted drafts of the election programme they want their presidential candidate to follow, which will be combined into a final text to be discussed on Wednesday.The in-between parties, as they are known - DIKO, EDEK, EVROKO and the Green Party - have appointed DIKO vice president Nicolas Papadopoulos to prepare the final text of their future candidate’s election programme.Papadopoulos will pass it back on to the parties’ coordinating committee on Monday.Then on Wednesday the parties will start a series of meetings to decide, among others, who their presidential candidate might be.EVROKO’s Demetris Syllouris  said yesterday it was too soon to know when the candidate would be announced to the public... Read on

NOW THAT it seems increasingly likely President Demetris Christofias will not be seeking re-election, the two big parties AKEL and DISY have begun in earnest courting the minority opposition.A coordinating body comprising representatives of the four minority parties -- DIKO, EDEK, the European Party and the Greens -- will be meeting this Friday to begin thrashing out a common election programme.The  leaders of the four parties are also set to talk shop later this week, although most likely beginning of the next as the head of the European Party Demetris Syllouris is currently abroad... 5 comments

FORMER Foreign Minister George Lillikas, long-rumoured to be poised to run for President in 2013, is expected to announce his intentions today at a news conference. Lillikas who has been lost in the political wilderness for over two years, is expected to garner the support of the minor opposition parties, EDEK, The Greens and EVROKO, reports said. Lillikas began his political career as an aide to former president George Vassiliou, who came to power in 1988 with the support of communist AKEL. He was later elected MP on an AKEL ticket and appointed Commerce Minister during the Papadopoulos administration in which AKEL was a coalition partner... 6 comments

THE FOUR minority opposition parties yesterday agreed to join forces and prepare a policy declaration ahead of next February’s presidential elections. The leaders of DIKO, EDEK, EVROKO and the Greens agreed to establish a coordinating body that will formulate a manifesto including proposals from all four minority parties on how to get Cyprus out of the “multiple crises” it is going through. DIKO leader Marios Garoyian said it was too early to tell whether they could agree on who the person to implement the manifesto should be, noting that this would become clearer in May after the manifesto is complete. His party has not ruled anything out or closed any doors yet, he added. ... 2 comments

 THE embattled abbot of a monastery on Mount Athos, Greece, was yesterday released on a €300,000 bail after spending around three months behind bars.Cyprus-born Ephrem, 55, chief monk of the Vatopedi monastery, had been remanded in connection with embezzlement, money laundering and making false statements in a case concerning a land swap deal with the Greek government.The abbot, who is the brother of right-wing EVROKO deputy chairman Nicos Koutsou, would also have to report to a police station and was also banned from leaving Mount Athos and the country.Ephrem is accused of masterminding a scheme some six years ago in which the monastery exchanged cheap farmland with prime real estate in Athens – a deal that cost Greece millions... 4 comments