Democratic Rally
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Democratic Rally (Δημοκρατικός Συναγερμός) | |
---|---|
Leader | Nicos Anastasiades |
Founded | 1976 |
Headquarters | Nicosia, Cyprus |
Political ideology | Conservative |
International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
Website | http://www.disy.org.cy/ |
Cyprus |
This article is part of the series: |
|
See also: |
Other countries • Politics Portal |
The Democratic Rally (Greek: Δημοκρατικός Συναγερμός), or DISY, is a conservative political party in Cyprus, led by Nicos Anastasiades. The name is also sometimes translated as Democratic Coalition.
It is the second largest party in the House of Representatives with 19 members out of 56. In the 2004 European Parliamentary Election it gained the largest share of the vote with 28.2%, and returned 2 MEPs, who are expected to join the European People's Party group.
The party was founded in 1976 by veteran politician Glafkos Klerides. Clerides who had been the Greek Cypriot negotiator had recently disagreed with Makarios III so his party housed the wing of the older Eniaion party that disagreed with Makarios (the ones agreeing forming democratic party with Spyros Kyprianou).
The Democratic Rally supported the Annan Plan for the re-unification of Cyprus, which was rejected by a majority of the Greek Community. The party subsequently expelled two parliamentary deputies who had opposed the party line. Former party president Yiannakis Matsis headed a splinter coalition For Europe in the European Parliamentary Election. In the elections of 21 May 2006, the party won 30.3 % and 18 out of 56 seats(The same seats with the first party AKEL).