Disy MP George Pamborides said organised crime has infiltrated politics, as he confirmed he will seek the party’s nomination for the 2028 presidential election.

Speaking on Alpha TV, Pamborides claimed that members of organised crime groups have access to politicians.

“I am particularly concerned about the penetration of organized crime into all aspects of life, especially politics.”

Pamborides also set out his parliamentary priorities, criticising what he described as a lack of drive to improve public sector productivity.

“There’s no effort to increase productivity. A carnival has been set up around sick leave,” he said.

He said the government had shown no boldness in confronting public sector trade unions.

“We can’t have a situation where we can’t meet our needs because half our nurses are on sick leave,” he said.

Turning to the presidential race, Pamborides criticised a constitutional change within Disy that hands the choice of candidate to party members rather than senior officials.

“I disagreed strongly with the constitutional change that hands the choice of candidate to the party membership. Senior party figures shouldn’t be pitted against each other before a major national election,” he said.

He argued the party leader should have had the first say, with any rival candidacy decided by the party’s collective bodies before being put to the wider membership.

Pamborides said he would stand in the internal party contest even if his rivals were Averof Neophytou and Annita Demetriou, both of whom have also been mentioned as possible Disy nominees.

He called for a joint consultation among interested candidates to establish who would have the best chance of winning both rounds of the presidential election.

He said he would step aside if his own candidacy risked the party’s unity or its chances of victory.

“If my own candidacy doesn’t serve party unity and leads to losing the election, then I would step back. This is a decision that weighs on all of us,” he said.

Pamborides previously served as health minister under former president Nicos Anastasiades between 2015 and 2018, overseeing much of the legislative process that created the Gesy health scheme, before being replaced by Constantinos Iaonnou who officially managed the first rollout of the service.