Davidovitz attended an event at the House of Representatives marking the launch of the group. Its six members are DISY MPs Giorgos Karoullas and Charalambos Petrides; ELAM MPs Soteris Ioannou and Marios Pelekanos; and DIKO MPs Andreas Apostolou and Chrysis Pantelides, who will lead the group.
Also attending were former Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas, DIKO President Nikolas Papadopoulos and U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus John Breslow.
In his opening remarks, Pantelides, a DIKO MP and president of the IAF’s Cyprus chapter, said the group initially comprised six of the 56 members of the Cypriot parliament, representing three of the legislature’s six parties.
He described the initiative as a demonstration of their shared commitment to freedom, democracy, diplomacy, dialogue and cooperation.
Davidovitz, in her first public remarks since taking office, also acknowledged the Cypriot government’s firm commitment to further deepening relations between Israel and Cyprus.
AKEL Raises Objections
In a letter to the president of the House of Representatives, AKEL parliamentary spokesman Giorgos Loukaidis raised what he described as serious concerns over the use of parliamentary premises for an event establishing a group of MPs from DISY, DIKO and ELAM in cooperation with the pro-Israel Israel Allies Foundation.
Loukaidis called on the House president to clarify how the event was approved, the group’s institutional status, any commitments undertaken by its members, and the sources of its funding and support.
He also raised political questions about MPs cooperating with organizations that promote the positions and interests of third countries, including objectives that, he argued, conflict with UN resolutions and international law, principles on which the Republic of Cyprus bases its efforts to end the occupation.
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