Four Cypriot government ministers resigned Wednesday after the main party, the communist AKEL, said it was leaving the governing coalition after its candidate for presidential elections next year was rejected, according to dpa. The AKEL party said it had proposed Demetrios Christofias, 60, to stand as the three-party coalition's candidate in next February's elections. But its proposal was rejected by President Tassos Papadopoulos and the two other coalition partners, the centrist DIKO and socialist EDEK. Next day the AKEL ministers of foreign affairs, interior, transport and health all resigned. The communist party has had disagreements with Papadopoulos in the past over his handling of the island's decades-old division. The remaining two parties of the coalition have expressed their willingness to back Papadopoulos in the next elections. The current president is expected to announce his interest in seeking a second five-year term. Cyprus has been divided into a Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot north since a Turkish invasion in 1974 which was triggered by a Greek-led coup.
