Christofias, Dimitris

▪ 2009

born Aug. 29, 1946, Kato Dhikomo, Cyprus

      On Feb. 28, 2008, Dimitris Christofias was sworn in as president of the Republic of Cyprus, the Greek portion of the divided island. The victory received worldwide attention because the new leader was Greek Cyprus's first president from AKEL, the Marxist-Leninist-oriented Progressive Party of the Working People. Speculation was rife as to what path his leadership would take. In the years before the election, Christofias was seen as something of a euroskeptic, and his party had urged delay in converting the country's currency from the Cyprus pound to the euro (a conversion that occurred on Jan. 1, 2008). He was also a critic of the U.S.-led Iraq war and of the British military bases on Cyprus. In his inaugural address, however, Christofias stressed his commitment to previous agreements, including those with the EU and the UN. He declared that his two main priorities would be finding a solution to the problem of a divided Cyprus and building a fairer society.

      Christofias became politically active at an early age, joining the Pancyprian United Students Organization in 1960 at age 14. At 18 he was a member of AKEL and the United Democratic Youth Organization (EDON), AKEL's youth arm. In 1969 he was elected a member of the EDON Central Council. That same year he went to the Soviet Union to further his education. After obtaining (1974) a Ph.D. in history from the Academy of Social Sciences in Moscow, he returned to Cyprus to embark on a career in politics. He became an official of EDON and was elected (1977) the youth organization's general secretary, a position he held for 10 years.

      In the meantime, Christofias rose through the AKEL ranks. He was elected to a district committee and then joined (1986) the party's political bureau. In 1987 he exchanged his position with EDON for membership in the AKEL central committee, and in the following year he became the party's leader. Christofias entered national politics in 1991 when he was elected to the House of Representatives, and in 2001 he became president of the House.

      In 2008 he was chosen as the AKEL candidate for president. In the first round of balloting, held on February 17, he took second place (with 33.29% of the vote) among the three contenders, ahead of incumbent Pres. Tassos Papadopoulos (Papadopoulos, Tassos ). Christofias defeated Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulikes in the runoff election on February 24, garnering 53.4% of the votes cast.

      Christofias's initiative toward solving the Cyprus question began soon after his inauguration. In March he held meetings with Turkish Cyprus Pres. Mehmet Ali Talat, which activated the moribund joint technical committees (agreed on in 2006 but never implemented), and they examined a range of other possible actions. The president-to-president and official-to-official dialogue continued throughout the year.

George H. Kelling

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