President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, urged the people to vote in Sunday’s Parliamentary elections, noting that abstention is not an option.
In remarks at the 1st Primary School of Geroskipou, in Paphos, accompanied by his wife Philippa Karsera Christodoulidou, the President told journalists that “today’s electoral process is important and concerns us all. It concerns the legislative power of our country and as the executive power we want a House with which we can cooperate excellently primarily for the good of our country, for the good of society, for the good of the citizens”.
And within this framework, he said, “I call on the Cypriot people to participate in the electoral process. As the executive power we proceeded with some functional reforms, so that there would be greater participation, with automatic registration, with the voting right from the age of 17, which was decided by the House to apply from the next electoral process, but, I repeat, it is important, it is good for people to participate. Certainly abstention is not an option.”
Asked if he is anxious about the electoral result, the President of the Republic he replied in the negative, noting the result “will be absolutely respected by the executive power and we will work with the new House, so that our country progresses even further, so that society benefits, so that the Cypriot people benefit.”
“What is important in any electoral process is to think about how our country can move even further forward. This is the goal of the executive power, this is what we do as Government, this is what we will do with the new House,” he added.
Invited to say if there was toxicity during the pre-election campaign and if he is satisfied with the quality of political discourse during the campaign, the President of the Republic said that “it would clearly be better if there had been a more substantial exchange of views – all views are respected, but if there had been a dialogue, based on the issues that concern society, that concern the Cypriot people, about our national issue, about the Cyprus problem, where I see developments coming. In any case, the pre-election period has been completed, today the Cypriot people will decide and the result will be absolutely respected.”
President Christodoulides further said that “we are ready to cooperate on the basis of our ideological-political approach, in no case on the basis of any compromise. I insist on ideology, I insist that we have a very specific, and we show it through our decisions and actions, political-ideological orientation, the opinion of both those who disagree with us and those who agree with us is respected, and on this basis if we have common goals, common visions we are ready to cooperate immediately.”
Invited to say with what criteria he made his personal choice today and to a journalist’s observation that this is the first time that Paphos will elect five members in the House, President Christodoulides said that “yes, Paphos will elect five MPs in this electoral process. I made my choice based on my ideological-political framework with which we exercise governance of the country. I don’t say one thing and do differently.”
The President remarked that the “we have a programme, a social contract with the Cypriot people which we implement on the basis of social liberalism and within this framework I exercised my voting right.”
To a question whether he voted for one or two candidates, the President of the Republic said that “it doesn’t matter if I voted for one or two. I exercised my voting right, I did not abstain. I chose on the basis that I have mentioned to you.”
To a journalist’s observation that he voted fairly fast, the President of the Republic said “of course, I have a clear opinion within the framework I mentioned to you earlier about our ideological-political orientation.”
“I want to mention it, in a period when, not only in Cyprus, but also at European and international level, some claim about the collapse of ideologies, allow me to disagree completely. We must have a clear ideological-political direction, this is what we do, we respect if some others choose something different, and based on this we also exercise politics, we also choose candidate MPs,” he noted.
When asked if tonight he will watch the election results or the basketball match between Olympiacos Piraeus and Real Madrid, the President of the Republic said that “I will certainly watch the election results. I am also interested in Olympiacos, I am a fan of Olympiacos, and of Pafos of course, I never denied it…”, he added.