EDEK Socialist Party

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EDEK Socialist Party
ΕΔΕΚ Σοσιαλιστικό Κόμμα
AbbreviationEDEK
LeaderVacant
FounderVasos Lyssaridis
Founded1969; 57 years ago (1969)
HeadquartersNicosia
Student wingAGONAS
Youth wingEDEK Youth
Women's wingSocialist Women's Movement
Labour wingDEOK
IdeologyPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Political positionCentre[6]
Regional affiliationPSOM (historical)
European affiliationParty of European Socialists
European Parliament groupProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
International affiliationProgressive Alliance
Socialist International
ColorsPage Template:Legend/styles.css has no content.  Page Template:Legend/styles.css has no content.  Page Template:Legend/styles.css has no content.  Red, Green, Gold
House of RepresentativesTemplate:Political party data
European ParliamentTemplate:Political party data
Municipal Councils
27 / 443
Website
Template:Political party data
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The EDEK Socialist Party (Template:Langx) is a social-democratic[7][1][2] political party in Cyprus.

Overview

The party was founded by Vassos Lyssarides in 1969 as the United Democratic Centre Union, EDEK (Template:Langx, ΕΔΕΚ). It was originally a strongly anti-imperialist democratic socialist party with roots in the struggle against British colonial rule, influenced by the philosophies of the Andreas Papandreou left-wing faction within Georgios Papandreou's Centre Union,[8][9] PASOK,[9] and the 1968 movement.

EDEK, and Lyssarides personally, enjoyed very good relations with Third World socialist leaders and governments,[10] including Hafez al-Assad of Syria, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya[2] and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt.[5]

Since the early 1980s, EDEK has evolved into a European-style social-democratic party. It has however not given up its nationalist and "enotic" orientations.[11] The party changed its name to "Movement for Social Democracy" (Template:Langx) in 2000.[12]

EDEK is led by Marinos Sizopoulos and is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International.

History

Formation and early years

Members were drawn from the committee for re-establishment of democracy in Greece, and fighters from Lyssaridis's group during the 1964 clashes between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Lyssaridis was the personal physician of Archbishop Makarios III, the first president of independent Cyprus, whom the party supported. The party's name was inspired by Greek's Centre Union (EK) of Georgios Papandreou. It positioned itself in "the space inbetween" (neither left nor right).[13] EDEK had links to the international Non-Aligned Movement and was opposed to the right-wing Colonels' regime in Greece.[14] Many of the party's members were part of the armed resistance to the 15 July 1974 coup against Makarios. The leader of the youth section of the party, Doros Loizou, was shot and killed in an attempt to murder Lyssaridis in August 1974.

Several members of the party's youth section (EDEN) with Trotskyist tendencies were expelled between 1979 and 1984, who then formed Aristeri Pteryga (Left Wing).[15]

During the late 1990s, EDEK negotiated with several minor parties, planning to merge all political forces between the communist AKEL and the conservative DISY into a major centrist party. It merged with two small groups, the Renewal Movement and the Independent Personalities Group, in February 2000. This was marked by its name change to "Movement for Social Democracy" (KISOS), which was also intended to bring the party closer to European social democratic parties in terms of both values and appearance. However, only two months after the merger, the members of the Renewal Movement left, citing a "lack of trust" vis-à-vis old EDEK members. Therefore, basically "the new KISOS was the old EDEK".[12]

21st century

In the 2001 general elections EDEK won 6.5% of the votes cast and 4 of the 56 seats in the House of Representatives of Cyprus. EDEK was one of the most outspoken opponents of the Annan Plan for the reunification of Cyprus, which was voted on, and ultimately rejected by the Greek Cypriot community in the 2004 referendum.[16] In the elections of 21 May 2006, the first since the referendum, the party increased its vote share to 8.9%, and won 5 out of 56 seats.

EDEK backed Dimitris Christofias of the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) in the second round of the February 2008 presidential election. On the proposal of EDEK's Political Bureau, 109 members of its Central Committee voted in favor of supporting Christofias, five voted against, and two abstained.[17] In February 2010 EDEK quit from the government coalition due to its dispute concerning the decisions of Dimitris Christofias in the Cyprus Problem.[18][19]

The party leader, Yiannakis Omirou, was elected as President of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, following the 2011 general elections, in which EDEK obtained 8.93% of the votes and five seats in Parliament.

In the February 2013 presidential election, EDEK backed the independent candidate Yiorgos Lillikas. The former minister of foreign affairs in Tassos Papadopoulos' cabinet. In the second round, EDEK decided not to back any other candidate, neither the DISY candidate Nicos Anastasiades, or AKEL candidate Stavros Malas.

In January 2015, House President Yiannakis Omirou resigned from EDEK's leadership. In March he was succeeded by his deputy Marinos Sizopoulos.[20]

In November 2022, the party's name was changed to EDEK Socialist Party.[21]

In the 2026 legislative election, the party lost all its seats in the House of Representatives, marking the first time since the party entered parliament in 1970 that EDEK has been without representation in the House, ending a 56-year presence in parliament.[22]

Election results

Parliament

House of Representatives
Election Votes Seats
# % Rank # ±
1970 12,996 8.3 4th Template:Composition bar compact new
1976 With DIKO and AKEL Template:Composition bar compact Increase 2
1981 23,772 8.2 4th Template:Composition bar compact Decrease 1
1985 35,371 11.1 4th Template:Composition bar compact Increase 3
1991 37,264 10.9 4th Template:Composition bar compact Increase 1
1996 30,033 8.1 4th Template:Composition bar compact Decrease 2
2001 26,767 6.5 4th Template:Composition bar compact Decrease 1
2006 37,533 8.9 4th Template:Composition bar compact Increase 1
2011 36,113 8.9 4th Template:Composition bar compact Steady 0
2016 21,732 6.2 4th Template:Composition bar compact Decrease 2
2021[a] 24,022 6.7 5th Template:Composition bar compact Increase 1
2026 12,092 3.3 7th Template:Composition bar compact Decrease 4

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election Votes Seats
# % Rank # ±
2004 36,075 10.79 5th Template:Composition bar compact new
2009 30,169 9.85 4th Template:Composition bar compact Increase 1
2014[b] 19,894 7.68 4th Template:Composition bar compact Steady 0
2019 29,715 10.58 4th Template:Composition bar compact Steady 0
2024 18,681 5.07 6th Template:Composition bar compact Decrease 1

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Presidents of the Movement

References

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  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nordsieck, Wolfram (2016). "Cyprus". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  2. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hayriye Kahveci (2013). Cyprus. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 71. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Escalona, Fabien; Keith, Daniel; March, Luke (2023-04-17). The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Left Parties in Europe. Springer Nature. p. 120. ISBN 1137562641. Retrieved 2025-08-15. communist AKEL (Progressive Party of Working People—1926), social democratic EDEK (United Democratic Union of the Centre—1969), centre-right DIKO (Democratic Party—1976) and right-wing DISY (Democratic Rally—1976).
  4. ^ [1][2][3]
  5. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Andrekos Varnava; Christalla Yakinthou (2011). Cyprus: Political Modernity and the Structures of Democracy in a Divided Island. Oxford University Press. p. 469. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kambas, Michele (24 May 2026). "Far right and newcomers make gains in Cyprus election". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Εδεκ - Κινημα Σοσιαλδημοκρατων".
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The United Democratic Union of the Center (EDEK)". 12 May 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  9. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Charalambous, Giorgos; Christophorou, Christophoros (2013). Party-Society Relations in the Republic of Cyprus. Routledge. p. 86. ISBN 9781317386575.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Giorgos Charalambous (2015). The Party Politics of the Problem Resolving Cyprus: New Approaches to Conflict Resolution. I.B. Tauris. p. 50.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Christophoros Christophorou (2009). The Evolution of Greek Cypriot Party Politics. Peter Lang. p. 103. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hayriye Kahveci (2013). Cyprus. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 71–72. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Christophoros Christophorou (2009). The Evolution of Greek Cypriot Party Politics. Peter Lang. p. 90. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Christophoros Christophorou (2009). The Evolution of Greek Cypriot Party Politics. Peter Lang. p. 89. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mirbagheri, Farid; Solomou, Emilios A. (2021). Historical Dictionary of Cyprus. London, United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 138. ISBN 9781538111581.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Christophoros Christophorou (2009). The Evolution of Greek Cypriot Party Politics. Peter Lang. p. 97. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  17. ^ "Cyprus Socialists supports Christofias's candidacy"[permanent dead link], Financial Mirror, February 21, 2008.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nikos Chasapopoulos (2010-02-09). Τριγμοί στην κυβέρνηση Χριστόφια - Αποχώρησε η ΕΔΕΚ (in Ελληνικά). To Vima. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."EDEK withdraws from Cyprus government coalition". FinancialMirror. 2010-02-09. Retrieved 2010-08-03.[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."CYPRUS: Socialists elect new leader, aim for 2016 elections". Financial Mirror. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Άλλαξε (ξανά) όνομα η ΕΔΕΚ" [EDEK changed its name (again)]. Reporter. 18 November 2022.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Δημητριάδη, Ραφαέλα (24 May 2026). "Γιατί η ΕΔΕΚ έμεινε εκτός Βουλής μετά από 56 χρόνια". Kathimerini (in Ελληνικά). Retrieved 2026-05-25.

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