Four of the Democratic National Movement’s (DEK) central figures withdrew their support for party president Andreas Themistocleous on Friday, accusing him of arbitrary decision making that had destroyed trust within the party.

The four officials, who are also co-founders of Dek, said Themistocleous “no longer has our support” because his “arbitrary actions, in violation of what was agreed, have definitively broken any relationship of trust and cooperation”.

The statement was signed by vice presidents Nikos Charalambous and Prokopis Prokopiou, secretary general Marios Thrasyvoulou and general organising secretary Andreas Sotiriou, giving the dissenters a majority of the party’s six-member central committee.

They also sought to clarify how the party is operating, saying DEK has had no press representative since May 25 and employs no paid staff.

The split comes less than two years after Themistocleous founded Dek following his departure from Elam.

Themistocleous first entered parliament in 2013 as a Disy MP after Nicos Anastasiades vacated his seat on becoming president.

He lost his seat in the 2016 election before joining Elam and returning to parliament in 2021.

He was expelled from the party four months later and then served as an independent MP.

He later founded DEK, a nationalist party which opposes a bizonal bicommunal federation and what it describes as progressive social agendas.

Themistocleous has repeatedly attracted controversy during his time in parliament.

In 2021 he received a verbal reprimand after confronting a Green party parliamentary assistant during a House committee meeting, shouting at her to leave the room and telling her she had no right to speak.

He also drew criticism over remarks opposing mandatory sex education in schools, claiming children would be taught “it’s ok for two women to kiss each other and for two men the same”.