The House will release state funding in early January, with €6.9m heading to parties and youth wings and €5.6m covering 101 parliamentary associates, as bills to expand staff and raise salaries move through committee and talk of a new €100m Parliament building stalls.
The money lands weeks before the May 2026 parliamentary elections. New formations are crowding the field, pressure is on DISY and AKEL to hold share, and several small parties face an existential fight. Campaign machinery needs cash, and the state subsidy arrives right on cue.
How the €12.7m will be shared
The total state grant for 2026 is €12.7m. Of this, €6.6m goes directly to parliamentary parties. Fifteen percent is split equally among them, the remaining eighty-five percent is allocated according to each party’s vote share in the last parliamentary elections in May 2021. Rounded amounts due in 2026 are:
- DISY €1.98m
- AKEL €1.62m
- DIKO €0.89m
- ELAM €0.591m
- EDEK €0.587m
- DIPA €0.546m
- Greens €0.434m
Parties must file audited accounts to the Speaker within ten months of the financial year’s end, covering how the state grant was used.
Youth wings and EU party dues
An additional €300,000 will be distributed to parties’ youth organisations. Each youth wing receives €9,000, with the remaining amount apportioned by the parent party’s 2021 result. A further €50,000 covers Cypriot parties’ contributions to their affiliated European political families.
€100,000 for “information” abroad, with minimal checks
Parliamentary parties will share €100,000 for outreach abroad in 2026, to promote the Republic of Cyprus’ official positions on the Cyprus problem and the continuing impact of the Turkish occupation on refugees. This is a modest sum next to the nearly €13m annual grant, yet it is still public money. Despite that, parties are not required to submit receipts detailing how this specific envelope is used. Of the €100,000, €15,000 is split equally, the remaining €85,000 is divided by 2021 vote share.
The single largest line after party funding is €5.6m to cover the salaries and benefits of 101 parliamentary associates hired by parties and MPs. Associates are hired and remain on scale A8. Many have worked in the House for more than twenty years and are stuck at the top of A8. According to figures recently published by parties, except DIKO, gross monthly pay ranges from €2,042 on A8 to €3,489 on A8 step 12.
Two bills would expand headcount and raise pay
Two bills are pending before the House Institutions Committee. The first, signed by MPs Charalambos Theopemptou, Christos Orphanides, Zacharias Koulias, Pavlos Mylonas, Marinos Sizopoulos, Marinos Mousiouttas, Alexandra Attalidou and Andreas Themistokleous, proposes salary increases for party and MP associates.
The second bill, tabled by Speaker Annita Demetriou, would allow each parliamentary party to employ associates up to double its number of seats, and grant each independent MP one associate. With 17 seats, DISY would be entitled to 34 associates, AKEL with 15 seats to 30, and so on. Based on today’s staffing, passing the bill would add 14 new associate posts.
New Parliament building, still on ice
The 2026 House budget includes €20,000 to update tender documents for a new Parliament building on the PASYDY hill, but only if the government takes a political decision to proceed. The project has been costed at roughly €100m. The Executive would need to commit the funding and, for now, there is no sign it intends to. The inadequacy of the current complex has been on record since 1994.