AKEL Party Chairman Christofias won the presidential elections on the GC side in February 2008. Talat hoped to secure settlement with Christofias through their common ideological bond. In March the two leaders met and agreed on a two-track road map—six working groups to take up political issues and seven technical committees to take up day-to-day issues. In May and July, the leaders met again affirming their commitment to a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with single international personality and single sovereignty. Talat was criticised for abandoning the established “layered” sovereignty approach of the TC side. In October, despite Turkish objections, GCs issued the first explorative drilling licence. This strained the atmosphere. In November 2008 the UNSG reported that efforts in the opposite direction during the peace process would be counterproductive. In September 2009 the GC National Council unanimously rejected the establishment of a new federal partnership, insisted on the single continuity of the usurped “RoC” and rejected the guarantee system. In March 2010 the ECHR announced its decision regarding the Demopoulos property case, stating that the property issue is political and that until settlement complainants had to first apply to the TC Immovable Property Commission and exhaust the domestic remedy mechanism. In April 2010 a disappointed Talat lost the elections to UBP leader Eroğlu.