NICOSIA (AFP) – Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias’s communist party said it will vote against the Lisbon Treaty but other main parties pledged yesterday to ensure its ratification in parliament.

The communist party AKEL decided to vote “no” in next week’s parliamentary showdown, despite the president’s vow to honor his country’s signature on the EU treaty.

To avoid a conflict of interests, Christofias was absent during Monday’s AKEL ballot on the Lisbon Treaty.

Before and after his election in February, the Greek-Cypriot leader reiterated that his government would back the treaty, despite his party’s Euroskeptic stance. “We will vote against the treaty because we judge its content not to be in the interests of the people of Europe, especially the workers,” said AKEL parliamentary spokes-man Nicos Katsourides.

“We did not join Europe as mere observers or applauders, but to support to the extent of our capabilities the interests of the peoples of Europe,” he added.

AKEL is the senior partner in a government coalition and joint largest party in the 56-seat parliament with 18 seats, the same number as opposition right-wing party DISY.

DISY said yesterday that it would back the ratification vote scheduled for July 3, and called AKEL’s decision damaging to Cyprus’s integrity in the EU. Junior government coalition partners – center-right DIKO, with 11 seats, and socialists EDEK, with five seats – are also in the “yes” camp, ensuring safe passage for the treaty’s ratification.