The United Democrats ( el, Ενωμένοι Δημοκράτες (ΕΔΗ), ''Enomenoi Dimokrates'' (EDI)) is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. The party was founded by former

President of Cyprus The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus. The office was created in 1960, after Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Currently, t ...

George Vasiliou Giorgos Vasos Vassiliou ( el, Γιώργος Βασιλείου; born 20 May 1931) is a Cypriot politician who served as the third president of Cyprus from 1988 to 1993. He was also the founder and leader of the Cypriot United Democrats party (E ...

in 1993 as ''Kinima Eleftheron Dimokraton'' ("Movement of Free Democrats"). The party later merged with ADISOK (a group of former AKEL members, including Andreas Fantis, Andreas Ziartides and Pavlos Diglis) to form United Democrats. The party is a full member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and an observer member of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

History

At the

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

, 27 May 2001, the party won 2.6% of the popular vote and 1 out of 56 seats. During the 2004 Annan Plan Referendum, the party supported the Annan Plan for Cyprus. In 2005 the party's president

stepped down and Michalis Papapetrou was elected president. In the elections of 21 May 2006, the party won only 1.6% and lost parliamentary representation. After the loss of the parliamentary representation Michalis Papapetrou expressed the will to resign as a leader of the party. In March 2007 the vice-president Praxoula Antoniadou took the leadership of the party. In the 2011 Legislative Elections, the United Democrats decided to support the governing party, AKEL. The party leader Praxoula Antoniadou was a candidate MP for AKEL. In August 2011, President Demetris Christofias has appointed United Democrats party leader Praxoula Antoniadou as Minister for the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of the Republic of Cyprus.

Presidents

*1996-2005:

*2005-2007: Michalis Papapetrou *2007-Current: Praxoula Antoniadou

References

External links

United Democrats
official website Political parties in Cyprus Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party member parties Cypriot nationalism Political parties established in 1993 Pro-European political parties in Cyprus {{Cyprus-party-stub

History

Presidents

See also

References

External links