Nicosia, Cyprus. Social media influencer Fidias Panayiotou said on Sunday night that he remains undecided about whether he will continue to sit as a member of the European Parliament or take a seat in Cyprus’ national parliament after winning a seat in the latter chamber in the day’s election.
Decision pending
“I still have some time to think about it, to consult with my team, together with my family, and we will decide,” he said.
Party result
His party, Direct Democracy Cyprus, finished sixth in the parliamentary election, its first electoral test since being formed last year. Panayiotou said the result marked the beginning of the party’s political life.
“We were in our mother’s womb, and we must prove our worth to the rest of the Cypriot people little by little to gain their trust,” he said.
Asked what his party will offer the country, he promised “a lot of effort, to try to improve Cyprus and change Cyprus for the better”.
Reaction to other parties
He also commented on the stronger-than-expected results of Cyprus’ traditional “big three” political parties, Disy, Akel and Dipa, saying he was “a little surprised”. He congratulated all three parties and said he was willing to “work together” with them when the new parliament convenes.
Looking ahead
Panayiotou said his party did not expect a high percentage of the vote and that its goal was to give “100 per cent” effort.
“Now, we are in parliament, and we will continue to give 100 per cent of the effort we can. We are not dissatisfied with the percentage [we achieved]. We are pleased that we gave as much effort as we could,” he said.
He said people can expect “many different things compared to what the usual parties do” and that Direct Democracy Cyprus will offer “different ways of handling things, and for the better”.
“We will try to innovate in politics, because politics has been the same for 50 years. It has not changed much. We will try to upgrade it from inside parliament,” he said.
