"Raise the flags, as the late
Ezekias Papaioannou (AKEL chief for 30 years and obedient servant of the Kremlin) would say.
In fact the last time he looked so miserable and depressed in public was when he attended
Ezekias Papaioannou's funeral.
Ezekias Papaioannou was general-secretary for 40 years and handed power directly to Demetris Christofias, who took over in 1989.
In 1968, a year before leaving for his studies in Moscow, Christofias, whose father ran the coffee shop in the AKEL building, gave the address at a party gathering attended by
Ezekias Papaioannou.
Everyone knows who the saintly one prefers and he could still surprise us with some last-minute trick that would prevent the big favourite, Kats from becoming the new
Ezekias. All will be revealed on Wednesday when the Central Committee chooses its new chief by secret ballot.
I had with me in New York the party representatives, Glafcos Clerides (DISY),
Ezekias Papaioannou (AKEL), Alecos Michaelides (DIKO) and Vassos Lyssarides (EDEK).
