Two candidates – Nikos Anastasiou and Diomides Diomidous – will contest the presidency of Edek in the party’s internal elections on June 1, it was announced on Friday after the 1pm deadline for nominations expired.

The party said polling stations would be set up in all districts, with further details to be announced in the coming days.

Edek general secretary Lefteris Andreou said that initially, it had seemed there would be only one candidate – Anastasiou – but welcomed the additional candidacy of Diomidous.

He expressed confidence that the party would emerge from the elections “united and stronger, improving its public image.”

“Edek’s call to all those who have become inactive or distanced themselves is a given, it is timeless and I hope that all those who want to return to Edek, as long as they embrace the party’s principles and values, will do so through the statutory provisions,” Andreou said.

Current leader Marinos Sizopoulos announced last month that he would not be seeking re-election, triggering a scramble within the party to identify suitable candidates for the upcoming vote.

Efforts to unite behind a single, broadly accepted candidate fell through last week as the June 1 congress approached.

Three potential contenders – Morfakis Solomonides, Marios Hannides, and Elias Myrianthous – withdrew their candidacies in support of Anastasiou, the party’s Limassol district leader.

However, shortly after a photo was taken of the three united behind Anastasiou, Diomidous announced his intention to run – not only for deputy president, as initially expected, but also for the presidency.

Whoever is elected will face the challenge of re-engaging members who became estranged from the party during Sizopoulos’ leadership – each “for their own reasons,” according to party spokesman Giorgos Georgiou.