The outgoing House had even pre-emptively amended the electoral law, following a proposal by the Ministry of Interior, in case the leader of Direct Democracy Cyprus, Fidias Panayiotou, chose to resign as MEP in order to assume the parliamentary seat in Nicosia.
In the end, Fidias chose to retain his European Parliament seat and the parliamentary seat went to his political mentor, Yiannis Laouris. Fidias secured 5,108 votes, while Yiannis Laouris received just 1,700. It is therefore evident that thousands of Fidias voters did not vote for Laouris, but through their vote ultimately contributed to his entry into parliament. Some of them may now feel misled by Fidias. There is, however, another side: if Fidias had resigned from the European Parliament, the Republic of Cyprus would have had to bear the €6 million cost of holding a nationwide by-election to replace him.
The amendment
Specifically, in one of the final plenary sessions before parliament was dissolved ahead of the elections, the House unanimously approved, following a proposal from the Ministry of Interior, an amendment to the electoral law. The amendment provides that, in the event of a vacant parliamentary or European Parliament seat, the process of filling it must be completed within 60 days. It also allows for an extension up to 120 days if justified by practical or other special reasons, at the discretion of the Interior Minister.
The change was introduced urgently after a warning from the Election Service that, if Fidias Panayiotou had accepted the parliamentary seat, it would not have been possible to hold elections to fill the MEP vacancy within the 45 days required under existing legislation, that is, within July.
At the same time, the Election Service pointed to a serious risk of staffing difficulties at polling stations if elections were held in mid‑July. As noted to MPs, many school buildings used as polling stations lack air conditioning, making their operation under heatwave conditions particularly challenging.
He chose the first scenario
However, the new legislation did not need to be applied, as the MEP chose the first scenario proposed by the Ministry of Interior: to retain his seat in the European Parliament, with the Nicosia parliamentary seat being taken by the first runner‑up in the district, from the Direct Democracy Cyprus list. The party secured only one seat in the Nicosia district, which went to Yiannis Laouris, who received 1,700 votes.
The second scenario, which the Ministry of Interior sought to avoid at all costs, involved Fidias Panayiotou choosing the parliamentary seat in Cyprus. In that case, the seat in the European Parliament would be vacated and elections would have to be held, under the recent amendment, by early September. Why elections? Because Fidias Panayiotou won the MEP seat as an independent candidate. Therefore, there is no runner‑up, making a by-election necessary to elect a new MEP.
Had Fidias Panayiotou been elected as an MEP through a political party, no election would have been required, as the seat would have passed to the first runner‑up of that party.
