ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the conditions that brought about the establishment of the Democratic Union party, in November 1959, under the leadership of Themistocles Dervis and Ioannis Clerides. The exploration of such an event is intriguing, as the two men were major political rivals during the 1940s, having bitterly contested each other for the post of mayor of Nicosia. The party was established on the eve of the presidential elections of December 1959, the first to take place following the signing of the Zurich-London Agreements. The Democratic Union entered the presidential elections with Ioannis Clerides as its candidate; the other candidate was Archbishop Makarios. As it will be shown, Clerides’s candidature was backed by a group of heterogeneous forces. This chapter addresses the conditions under which this alliance was brought about and seeks to trace its importance and its ramifications. In doing so it also explores developments concerning the presidential elections of 1959.
