Voting for new House a warm-up for ’28 presidency

Cyprus voters go to the polls on Sunday to elect their next parliament, in what will be a fragmented House of Representatives and widely seen as a warm-up for the 2028 presidential race. A record 753 candidates representing 19 lists on the ballot and nine independents are challenging the 56 seats, with the mainstream political parties expected to lose ground, as smaller parties enter the House for the first time. With 568,587 persons registered to vote, nearly 11,000 more than the 557,836 in the previous elections, turnout is expected to be higher than the 65.7% in 2021, due to aggressive voter mobilisations. Others are changing camp, as a result of voter frustration and protests over corruption, nepotism and scandals linked to the incumbent and past administrations. Traditional contenders, such as the opposition centre-right Democratic Rally (DISY, EPP), the communist AKEL (GUE/NGL) and the pro-administration Democratic Party (DIKO, S&D), may lose up to a handful of seats each, with the nationalist ELAM (European Conservatives and Reformists) and newcomer anti-corruption ALMA picking these up. Opinion polls suggest DISY will drop from 17 seats to 14, from 15 deputies AKEL will probably shed two seats and retreat to 13, while DIKO’s nine could become just six, with the party losing its ‘kingmaker’ status. ELAM is confident it will strengthen its presence in the House increasing its deputies from four to nine, ALMA, headed by former Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides could garner seven deputies, and firebrand Euro MP Fidias Panayiotou’s newly established Direct Democracy could even win five seats. Volt Cyprus, the local branch of Eurofederalists Volt Europe could enter parliament with two deputies, having had just one seat in the outgoing parliament, formerly with the Ecologists’ Movement. The socialist EDEK, the Ecologists and pro-administration Democratic Alignment (DIPA), will struggle to get past the 3.6% national threshold in order to enter parliament, regardless if they get better results in any of the six districts. Another opinion poll found DISY and AKEL neck and neck for the lead, with 18.9% and 18.1% of the vote, respectively, followed by ELAM (11.1%), DIKO and ALMA at 8% each, Direct Democracy at 6.5% and Volt just below the benchmark at 3.1%. EDEK and the Ecologists are seen tumbling to 2% each, not enough to enter parliament, together with DIPA at 1.1%. House Speaker Also at stake is the seat of the House Speaker, with DISY’s incumbent Annita Demetriou counting on former rivals DIKO for support, while ELAM declared it would not favour her. On the other hand, President Nikos Christodoulides, who announced progress in the offshore natural gas deal with Eni and Total a few days prior to the elections in order to boost his coalition supporters, will need wide support to pass legislation in the national assembly, as well as the annual budget. He will probably wait for the outcome of the elections to see which parties he will approach for support, by offering Cabinet positions in another mini-reshuffle, similar to the recent of DIPA deputy Marinos Moushouttas as Labour and Social Insurance Minister. Chief Returning Officer and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Dr Elikkos Elia, said there will be 1,217 polling stations, plus 13 overseas to serve the Cypriot Diaspora in Athens (5), Thessaloniki (3), London (4) and Brussels (1). There will also be 13 voting centres for the election of the Maronite Representative among business consultant Petros Nacouzi and outgoing MP for Kyrenia, economist Marios Mavrides. The Armenian and Latin candidates were unopposed, and Vartkes Mahdessian was declared for the fifth consecutive time, while Antonella Mantovani will represent the Latins for a third consecutive term. Voting starts at 7am and closes at 6pm, followed by the release of the first exit polls. First national results are expected around 8pm. Millenials, TV stars and footballers Apart from a good number of millennials, newcomers to politics include actor Christoforos Christoforou (DISY), Alpha TV newscaster Constantinos Constantinou (AKEL), TV personality and producer Melanie Steliou (AKEL), theatre star Elena Papadopoulou (DIKO), Sophia Vassiliou (Volt), daughter of former President George Vassiliou and EU Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, and veteran footballer Costas Malekkos (Green Party). Controversial social media influencer and former chairman of the Olympiakos Nicosia football club, Christoforos Tornaritis is heading the anti-establishment “Sikou Pano” (Stand Up) ballot, and will be joined by his wife, fashion designer Ramona Filip, making them the only couple candidates. The oldest candidate is 89-year-old musician Christakis Rotsides from Limassol. Due to population shifts, the capital Nicosia is giving up a seat, electing 19 deputies in the new parliament, with Paphos increasing from four to five seats. Limassol remains with 12 seats, Famagusta 11, Larnaca 6 and Kyrenia 3. Fron the outgoing House, 18 MPs are not seeking reelection, while three MPs have switched sides and hope for re-election with another party. The post Voting for new House a warm-up for ’28 presidency appeared first on Financial Mirror.