Valerie Tarapai, a candidate from the Direct Democracy movement, has stepped down from her candidacy. This followed some revelations about her past.
The issue started when DIKO president, Nikola Papadopoulos, made comments about candidates with criminal records. It turned out that Ms. Tarapai had a drug conviction in the occupied territories, which she admitted.
In her statements, she mentioned that the Direct Democracy movement supported her and did not exclude her. She thanked the leadership for their support.
MEP Pheidias Panayiotou stood up for her, noting that she has served her sentence and has been living normally for the last ten years.
However, due to the strong public reaction, she chose to withdraw. She wanted to reduce the impact on the party and ease political pressure.
