DISY President called on citizens to participate en masse in Sunday’s elections, supporting a “coalition of responsibility” that expresses reason, stability and the country’s European course
DISY was highlighted as the main pillar of political stability and seriousness in a fragmented political scene by party President Anita Demetriou at the party’s final election rally. A few 24 hours before the polls open on May 24, Ms Demetriou sent a multi-level political message to both the traditional party base and undecided voters.
In particular, Demetriou attempted to shift the public debate to governance issues, presenting DISY as the force that can guarantee “security in change” and prevent, she said, a return to policies of instability and experimentation.
The dominant political message of the evening was that the elections are not a mere battle of party quotas, but a crucial choice for the country’s course.
“Cyprus today cannot afford to experiment. It cannot afford to drift into division, toxicity and inexpensive populism,”
DISY President highlighted the functionality of the next Parliament as a central stake, warning that political instability could damage Cyprus’ international credibility, economy and decision-making capacity.
In this context, Demetriou invested heavily in the “responsibility” narrative, presenting DISY as the force of seriousness against populism, toxicity and easy promises.
“To correct weaknesses without devaluing what we have painstakingly built together. To change what hurts us without tearing the country down. That is our task. Our patriotic duty,” he said.
At the same time, he set a strong ideological and political tone for the next day, bringing to the fore the traditional priorities of DISY, namely economic stability, reforms, competitiveness and attracting quality investments. The economy emerged as a key axis of its intervention, with an emphasis on supporting the middle class, creating better jobs and linking growth with social policy.
At the same time, the DISY President attempted to send a message of a modern reformist profile, emphasising the digitisation of the state, the reduction of energy costs, investments in renewable energy sources and major strategic projects which – as she argued – can upgrade Cyprus’ geopolitical role.
He also paid particular attention to national security issues and the Cyprus problem. Demetriou reiterated her position in favour of the resumption of substantive negotiations on the basis of UN resolutions and the principles of the European Union, rejecting any form of “normalisation of the occupation”. At the same time, he stressed the importance of the deterrent power and international alliances of the Republic of Cyprus.
Representing the Greek government and the New Democracy, Rural Development Minister Margaritis Schinas, in his own speech, stressed that the upcoming elections are crucial, not only for the political correlations or for the next day of Cyprus, but also because now the front of populism is added, which wants to raise its head again.
“All of us, all of you, should put up a wall,” Schinas said.
The speech of Anita Demetriou
Dear friend, Minister of the Greek Government, Margaritis Schinas
Dear former President of the Republic of Cyprus
Dear former President of the Democratic Rally
Dear former Commissioner for Europe
Dear Deputy President
Parliamentary Representative
Vice-Presidents of the Democratic Rally
Member of Parliament and Secretary of International Relations of the New Democracy, Tasos Hadjivassiliou
Philos Zographis, Communications Advisor to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
President of the New Democracy of Cyprus
Our beloved MEPs, Louka and Michalis
Dear fellow Members of Parliament
Former Ministers and MPs
Departmental Secretaries
Founders of the Glaucus Clerides Institute and the Institute for Democracy,
President of the EMU
President of GODISY
Presidents of the affiliated organisations
Mayors, Deputy Mayors and local government officials
Historical Executives
Dear members of the Executive Bureau
Dear members of the Politburo
Members of the Government Project Monitoring Board
Proud Nedesites, EMU, Pioneers and Makites
Proud youth
Executives from all over Cyprus
Competitors and competitors,
Dear friends,
Thank you all for being here today!
You show our value. You show our strength!
Alarm is here, united strong!
Friends and friends,
Tonight we stand before a call to responsibility. And it is not the first time in our history.
A call of responsibility for the party and for the country! In an unprecedented, fragmented, political setting. In a climate of polarization, tension and toxicity.
But the image I see, the image of this great rally, your massive presence, the pulse, optimism and determination I see, send a message tonight that no one can ignore:
The Democratic Rally is here, united, strong. Ready to take up again the burden of its historic responsibility.
Because our Party, the proud Party of Glafkos Clerides, has always been humble but never absent.
Always cool but never timid.
Never but never lost its orientation: the duty to move the country forward!
We have always been a large, liberal, responsible, patriotic and democratic party, with people who care deeply for the good of the country.
What keeps us standing is responsibility. Responsibility towards the homeland. When the country needs support, we put aside the small things that divide us and stand together on the big things that unite us.
And what unites us is deeper than any personal choice: it is our belief in the infinite potential of our people.
It is our conviction that we will hand over to the new generation a free and united Cyprus.
It is our responsibility that politics exists to serve the collective interest first and foremost.
It is our conviction that we are confident that the future of our country will be built on our conviction that we will deliver a new generation and that we will be able to build a new future for the future.
It is our commitment to the survival and prosperity of Cypriot Hellenism on this island, as it has been for thousands of years.
This is the identity of the Democratic Rally.
A party created to pave the way. With courage where others saw fear.
Born in times of trial to heal wounds where others deepened them.
To unite society where others invested in division.
To strengthen democracy where others undermined it by subordinating it to polarisation.
To create prospects where others have fed on disappointment.
Our common mission has always been to push the country forward. To lead, not follow. To propose and not to shout.
And today, in a world where nothing is taken for granted, that mission is more relevant than ever.
Sunday’s election is no ordinary contest. It is not just another battle of percentages, seats and impressions.
It is a crucial choice about the path the new parliament will take. For the path the country will take.
A parliament that functions properly, checks, proposes, legislates meaningfully, creates positive democratic standards and enhances the country’s credibility.
A parliament that fails to make decisions sends a message of instability to the international community.
And we know well, from our own history, how dearly we have paid for economic and political instability, experimentation, demagoguery and irresponsibility.
That’s why we insist: The economy is not to be trifled with. With stability we do not gamble. We do not play with security. We do not gamble with the country’s international credibility.
Friends and friends,
Cyprus is in a period of great change.
Wars, the energy crisis, migratory pressure, an occupying force challenging borders, rights and rules, all this is not theoretical discussion. They affect our daily lives, our survival and our well-being.
Cyprus today cannot afford to experiment. It cannot afford to slide into divisiveness, toxicity and inexpensive populism.
What the country needs is change with certainty.
To improve institutions without flattening our collective gains.
To correct weaknesses without devaluing what we have painstakingly built together.
To change what hurts us, without tearing down the country.
This is our task. Our patriotic duty.
Our patriotic duty.
Friends and friends,
Throughout this election period we have wanted to open a long, public, beneficial debate about the Cyprus of the next day.
A serious and responsible dialogue with the other powers about where our country is and where it needs to go.
We want to talk about an economy that will not only build on what we have achieved so far, but will plan its next growth phase.
With more quality investments, with upgrading of competitiveness, with support for new and innovative entrepreneurship, with upgrading of the tourism product, with good jobs, with real prospects for the new generation and for business.
Economic stability is not for the few. It is for the many. It is for everyone. Because it is the basis on which social policy is built.
It is the ability of the state to pay pensions, to support health care, to invest in education, to strengthen defence, to protect the citizen.
Without a strong economy, grand promises remain words and societies pay the bill. We have experienced it. We know it well here in Cyprus.
We wanted to talk about the digital age as an opportunity to change level. To build a state that is more transparent, faster, more efficient.
We wanted to talk about the new energy era, with cheap electricity being a conquest, not a utopia. About how to move decisively on renewables, on storage, on upgrading the grids, on using our reserves and reducing dependence.
We want to talk about the big projects that are not just construction, but strategic choices. Cyprus may be small, but it is not doomed to think small. We should finally see our geography as an asset and not a burden.
For ports, infrastructure, roads, Cyprus’ position as a bridge to Europe in the Eastern Mediterranean.
To talk about international interconnections, about GSI, about IMEC, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.
To invest in our infrastructure, to strengthen our alliances, to become part of the solutions for the next day of Europe and the West, a pillar of peace and cooperation in our region.
We wanted to talk about defence and security, because our country has no right to be complacent.
The strengthening of our deterrent power, our alliances with Greece, Europe, the West, Israel and our neighbors in the region, the adaptation of defense to modern asymmetric and hybrid threats, all these are conditions of national survival.
The modern weapon systems that the Republic of Cyprus is receiving today are the result of our own planning and the continuity that is rightly followed.
It is proof that the serious policy of the Democratic Rally produces results that can be seen even years later. And this applies to all major issues: defence, foreign policy, the economy, social policy.
Responsible policy is rarely the most convenient policy.
It often means difficult decisions, reforms that are not always popular at the time they are implemented, enduring political costs because you know that without change countries do not move forward.
We wanted to talk about water, which we warned about early on.
A modern country cannot live in fear of water scarcity. Resource security, water, energy, raw materials, all are part of a country’s overall security.
We want to talk about the renaissance of agriculture and livestock. About the rural people who were affected. They are not asking for pity, but for dignity and justice. Support, infrastructure and perspective.
Fires, diseases, pressures on production remind us that the primary sector needs our support. An investment with added value in food security, social cohesion and rural life.
We want to talk about precision and the cost of living. Not with wishful thinking, but with awareness of the reality that every household experiences. Prices, fuel, electricity, rents, the difficulty for a family to plan for the future, are not “small” issues. They are at the core of social stability. From the well-being of the family, everything begins.
Today the middle class is bearing the brunt of the economic pressure. Families with children and students are under pressure. Young couples are finding it hard to get a home. Pensioners need dignity and security. Our vulnerable citizens need targeted policies that produce lasting results. Not temporary solutions that keep them dependent.
We wanted to talk about health care. GHS is a great social achievement (our achievement) and that is precisely why it must be protected, fixed and upgraded. We need better infrastructure, staffing, addressing delays, controlling abuses, integrating innovative treatments and strong public hospitals.
We wanted to talk about education because the school of the next decade cannot be the same as the school of yesterday. Our children will live in a world where artificial intelligence, technology, new forms of work are constantly changing the skills they need. We do not want an education that simply reproduces material. School should give them knowledge, critical thinking, creativity, digital skills, social awareness and confidence.
We want an education that is connected to the economy, to technical education, to innovation, to the needs of an ever-changing world.
We wanted in this election to speak clearly about the Cyprus issue. With honesty to the citizens. About the need to restart meaningful negotiations. 52 years is a long time. For a solution based on UN resolutions, and EU principles and values. For a free, reunited, secure and peaceful Cyprus. Without occupying troops, anachronistic guarantees and invasive rights.
We will never allow the international community to normalize the occupation and illegality in Cyprus.
Nor will we be content to manage stagnation. We need courage, seriousness, diplomatic mobility, perseverance in our principled positions and in the claims of our side. We are ready to stand our ground. Because the solution of the Cyprus problem is a matter of the survival of Hellenism in our homeland.
Friends and friends,
This should be the content of a proper election campaign. That would be a healthy political debate.
The Democratic Rally draws strength from debate because it is a party that has positions, experience, people and a sense of its role.
Instead of this debate, we heard shouting. Noise. Unsubstantiated and unsubstantiated accusations, mud, hate from social media. Personal attacks, leveling, nihilism. An attempt to turn politics into a spectacle. A staging without substance.
We have heard many speak to the citizen’s anger, but few appeal to his reason.
And we have once again seen a wave of populism that does not want to solve problems, but to gain impressions. It doesn’t build, it tears down. It doesn’t propose, it denounces. It does not unite, it divides.
Citizens are deceived by those who say there are easy solutions to difficult problems. That sobriety is a weakness. That noise is power.
We disagree vertically and horizontally.
For us, strength is truth. Strength is composure. Strength is prudence. Strength is keeping your country standing when others are investing in destabilization.
We do not ignore the anger of citizens. We do not underestimate the fatigue of society.
We don’t deny that there are things that hurt us that need to change.
Change is one thing and demolition is another. Accountability is one thing and collective guilt is another.
Transparency is one thing and political cannibalism is another.
At the Democratic Rally we do not discount honesty. We want transparency everywhere, enhanced scrutiny and accountability, zero tolerance for corruption. We are accountable only to the citizens.
But we insist that all this must be done institutionally, in a coordinated, sober manner. Nusima.
Because when a society starts to believe that everything is rotten, it doesn’t fix anything. It just sinks into despair. And it’s on despair that populists build. The most irresponsible, the most vain, the most dangerous.
We will not let Cyprus collapse for unscrupulous, personal and party ambitions.
Friends and friends,
The reason why our opponents chose toxicity is simple: they could not compete on the field of substance.
Because there you need positions, people, knowledge, responsibility, credibility.
We have a programme and faces.
We have positions and people with seriousness.
We have the right mix of experience and renewal.
We have a history of results.
We have ballots in every province that reflect the community, its needs, its concerns and its potential.
We have ballots in every province that reflect the community, its needs, its concerns and its potential.
Citizens on Sunday are not just voting for a party. He is voting for people who will express him, look him in the eye and represent him courageously and deservedly.
Who will be called upon to decide on the budget, the economy, reforms, defence, health, education, the Cyprus problem.
Who will stand up in the face of adversity.
Who will stand up in the face of adversity.
They are not all the same.
Quality matters.
We are up against forces that want to get into parliament armed with hatred, bigotry, bankrupt recipes, unbridled ambition, unforgivable frivolity.
Our country does not need adventures. Nor experiments.
It needs the serious and silent majority of responsibility, which prioritises logic, equanimity, respect. It needs a dynamic alliance of responsible citizens.
This alliance of responsibility is represented today primarily by the Democratic Rally!
It is represented by you, the genuine Coalitionists who have always been here.
But also those citizens who are concerned and do not want to surrender the country to the quagmire.
To the alliance of responsibility belongs every citizen who has anxieties, concerns and demands, but does not want to see Cyprus sinking into paralysis.
To all of you we say clearly: join us.
Not because we agree on everything, but because we agree on the most important thing:
That Cyprus must move forward responsibly.
We believe that Cyprus must move forward responsibly.
That our country is above and beyond personal and party ambitions.
Dear friends,
We do not claim that everything was done flawlessly. No major party with a history, responsibility and track record can make that claim.
We too have weaknesses, omissions, mistakes. Moments when we should have moved faster or listened more carefully.
But what sets us apart is that we have the strength to acknowledge it, unlike others, and renew ourselves. To evolve. To hold on to what good things this place has achieved through the sacrifices of its people and move on.
Today, a few days before the ballot box, we see people realizing this again.
We see citizens suffocating in the stifling climate. Comparing and understanding.
We see citizens reflecting again.
I repeat: All those who are concerned about the future of this country, all those who are tired of the toxic climate and the climate of division – COME WITH US!
This Sunday’s decision is too critical to leave to chance, anger or indifference. It is a five-year decision that will determine the course of the country, the stability of the economy, the functionality of the Parliament and the state.
I ask each and every one of you to fight this battle to the last minute. With dignity, with arguments, with faith.
Let us speak to those who have doubts.
Listen to those who have complaints. To convince with our truth.
To explain that Cyprus needs no more division and revenge but unity and reason. We do not need to tear down what we have built, but to change what hurts us.
This is the Democratic Rally. This is our party. This is our promise.
We have stood up to a lot.
Many have been quick to underestimate us. To bend us. To divide us.
They did not succeed.
Every time we prove that our strength is not in circumstance. But in conscience. In our deep connection to our country, history and society.
Because what we serve is much bigger than all of us: a free, united, European Cyprus.
A Cyprus that has a future and gives hope.
A Cyprus that has a future and gives hope.
For this Cyprus it is worth fighting for.
For this Cyprus it is worth going to the polls on Sunday.
For this Cyprus it is worth giving the Democratic Rally the strength it needs.
On Sunday we go for victory.
We are going for a victory of responsibility against populism.
For action over noise.
Optimism over fear.
We are fighting for a Cyprus that does not accept decadence as its fate.
Which is confident and knows how to plan.
Because it has people who are honest, capable, hard-working, who want to create, to change their country for the better.
So I urge you, with faith, with unity and with a clear conscience, to go together until the last moment.
On Sunday, we support the Democratic Rally.
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To keep our country standing, strong and proud.
We walk together for victory.
Together we walk together for our Cyprus.
Thank you!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Be well!
Have a good race!
We will make it! We’ll do it again!
Our blue heart’s blue will be the first to wave in the sky!
