Democratic Party (Cyprus) Explained

Country:Cyprus
Democratic Party
Native Name:Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα
Colours: Blue, Orange
Abbreviation:DIKO
Leader:Nikolas Papadopoulos
Founder:Spyros Kyprianou
Foundation:12 May 1976
Split:Eniaion[1]
Headquarters:Nicosia, Cyprus
Youth Wing:NEDIK
Womens Wing:GODIK
Position:Centre
International:Progressive Alliance[2] [3]
Europarl:Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Seats1 Title:House of Representatives
Seats2 Title:European Parliament
Seats3 Title:Municipal Councils

The Democratic Party (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα (ΔΗΚΟ), Dimokratikó Kómma (DIKO)) is a Greek-Cypriot nationalist, centrist[4] political party in Cyprus founded in 1976 by Spyros Kyprianou.[5] [6]

DIKO is variously described as centrist,[7] [8] centre-left[9] or centre-right;[10] [11] [12] internationally, it is a member of the Progressive Alliance, which groups together mainly centre-left parties.[13] Among all Cypriot political parties, DIKO claims to be the most loyal follower of the policies of Archbishop Makarios, the founding father of the Republic of Cyprus.[14] Its electoral stronghold is the Paphos District.

Overview

As stated in its founding declaration, the Democratic Party proposes the political philosophy of "social centrism", which constitutes "a total of attributes and values that offer in the state social cohesion, political prospect, improvement of terms of life and development of human culture, that should be shared between the entire population and not only between the privileged teams of the population". In June 2003, under the leadership of Tassos Papadopoulos, DIKO announced it was moving away from its traditional centre-right political positioning,[15] and declared its intention of moving towards social democracy.[15]

The party has developed a strict and hardline stance on the Cyprus problem and strongly opposed the Annan plan in 2004. DIKO also supports European integration and a non-aligned foreign policy, even though it showed support for Cyprus joining NATO's Partnership for Peace. The Movement for Social Democracy (EDEK), together with DIKO, constitute the so-called "space in-between" (ενδιάμεσος χώρος) in Cypriot politics, in that they strongly differentiate themselves from both the right-wing Democratic Rally and the left-wing AKEL.[16]

From 2000 to 2006, the party was led by Tassos Papadopoulos, who was President of Cyprus from 2003 to 2008. Papadopoulos was succeeded as DIKO leader by Marios Garoyian, who was President of the House of Representatives from 2008 to 2011. The party leadership was taken over by Nicolas Papadopoulos, son of Tassos, following an internal ballot in December 2013.[17]

The Democratic Party's traditional third place in legislative elections has allowed to it to assume the balance of power in parliament, where it has alternated between support for the communist Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) and the conservative Democratic Rally (DISY). In the 2011 legislative election, the party won 15.8 percent of the vote and 9 out of 56 seats. The party's decision not to field a candidate in the 2013 presidential election and to back conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades instead was controversial amongst members, and contributed to Marios Garoyian's loss of the leadership to Nicolas Papadopoulos later in the year.

During the Seventh European Parliament, the sole DIKO MEP was attached to the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group.[18]

Party leaders

No.LeaderPortraitTerm of officePresident
1Spyros Kyprianou197620001977–1988
2Tassos Papadopoulos200020062003–2008
3Marios Garoyian20062013
4Nikolas Papadopoulos2013Incumbent

Election results

Parliament

Election! colspan=3
VotesSeats
%Rank±
1976With AKEL and EDEKnew
198156,74919.503rd 13
198588,32227.652nd 8
199166,86719.553rd 5
199660,72616.433rd 1
200160,97714.843rd 1
200675,42917.923rd 2
201163,76315.763rd 2
201650,92214.493rd 0
202140,39511.293rd 0

European Parliament

Election! colspan=3
VotesSeats
%Rank±
200457.12117.093rdnew
200937,62512.283rd 0
201428,04410.833rd 0
201938,75613.803rd 0
202435,8159.725th 0

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Oliver P. Richmond . Mediating in Cyprus: The Cypriot Communities and the United Nations . Frank Cass . 1998 . xvii.
  2. Web site: el:Το ΔΗ.ΚΟ. συνδέεται με την "Προοδευτική Συμμαχία" . http://diko.org.cy/easyconsole.cfm/id/2643 . Democratic Party . 2 December 2013 . Nicosia . el . 24 September 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203035915/http://diko.org.cy/easyconsole.cfm/id/2643 . 3 December 2013 .
  3. Web site: Parties & Organisations: Political Parties and Associated Partners of the Progressive Alliance. Progressive Alliance.
  4. Web site: Cyprus. Wolfram. Nordsieck. Parties and Elections in Europe. 2021.
  5. Book: Farid Mirbagheri. Historical Dictionary of Cyprus. 1 October 2009. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-6298-2. 44–.
  6. Book: Peter Loizos. Iron in the Soul: Displacement, Livelihood and Health in Cyprus. 15 June 2008. Berghahn Books. 978-0-85745-067-8. 202–.
  7. Web site: Cyprus  - Political parties. European Election Database. Norwegian Centre for Research Data.
  8. Web site: Appendix A3: Political Parties. European Social Survey. 2018. 9th.
  9. Book: Athanasiadis, Konstantinos. The European Parliament Elections of 2014. Cyprus: Disapproval through abstention in EU’s remotest 'outpost'. 30 May 2014. 978-88-98012-16-9. CISE. De Sio. Lorenzo. Emanuele. Vincenzo. Maggini. Nicola. 164. 31 May 2019. 11 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170811122921/http://eprints.luiss.it/1344/1/EUROPEAN_PARLIAMENT_ELECTION_2014_DE_SIO_EMANUELE_MAGGINI.pdf. dead.
  10. Book: Ker-Lindsay, James. https://books.google.com/books?id=q_cG61SQ8MAC&pg=PA16. 16. Doing Business with the Republic of Cyprus. 978-1-905050-54-3. Dew. Philip. Government, Politics and Accession to the European Union. 2005 . GMB Publishing.
  11. Book: Neofytos Loizides . Transformations of the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot Right: Right-wing Peace-makers? . Beyond a Divided Cyprus: A State and Society in Transformation . Palgrave Macmillan . 2012 . 186 . 9780230338548.
  12. Book: Nathalie Tocci . Nathalie Tocci . Greece, Turkey and Cyprus . European Politic. Oxford University Press . 2007 . 125.
  13. Web site: el:Το ΔΗ.ΚΟ. συνδέεται με την "Προοδευτική Συμμαχία" . http://diko.org.cy/easyconsole.cfm/id/2643 . Democratic Party . 2 December 2013 . Nicosia . el . 24 September 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203035915/http://diko.org.cy/easyconsole.cfm/id/2643 . 3 December 2013 .
  14. http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/64.htm Eric Solsten, ed. Cyprus: A Country Study, US Congress
  15. Book: Philip Dew. Doing Business with the Republic of Cyprus. 2005. GMB Publishing Ltd. 978-1-905050-54-3. 16–.
  16. Christophoros Christophorou (2009). The Evolution of Greek Cypriot Party Politics. The Government and Politics of Cyprus. Peter Lang. p. 90.
  17. News: Nicolas Papadopoulos elected as leader of DIKO on Cyprus. 2 December 2013. Kathimerini. 2 December 2013. Athens.
  18. Book: Brüssel Centre for European Studies. From Reform to Growth. Managing the Economic Crisis in Europe. 2013. Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.. 978-90-5972-751-9. 100–.