Larnaca, Cyprus. A billboard near Larnaca airport promoting Israeli prime ministerial candidate and former IDF chief-of-staff Gadi Eisenkot has been vandalised with paint in the colours of the Palestinian flag. The advertisement has prompted debate over whether foreign political parties should be allowed to campaign in Cyprus.
Election campaign
The billboard is part of a campaign for Israel’s October 27 prime ministerial election, in which Eisenkot is standing as leader of the Yashar party.
One sign states, “Israelis, enjoy! You deserve it”, while another on the route back to the airport urges travellers to “Come back and win!”.
Public reaction
The signs attracted criticism from activist groups and independent MEP Fidias Panayiotou, who called for third countries to be prohibited from conducting promotional campaigns in Cyprus.
The campaign also sparked discussion on social media about the permissibility of foreign political advertising in the country.
Regulatory framework
Cyprus electoral legislation contains no provisions barring foreign political parties from buying billboard advertising outside periods of local elections. Commercial billboards are generally subject to advertising and planning regulations.
The interior ministry told the Cyprus Mail that billboard content does not fall under its remit and that it has no legal framework within its authority regulating election advertising or advertising generally. It referred the matter to the advertising regulation organisation, Caro.
Caro said there is currently no framework governing content displayed on commercial billboards, with decisions left to billboard owners as long as advertisements comply with relevant advertising codes.
No previous publicly identified case of a foreign political party campaigning in Cyprus has been reported, making the Israeli campaign unprecedented.
