In a surprising turn of events, 24-year-old social media star Fidias Panagiotou is projected to come in third place in Cyprus’s European Parliament elections, according to exit polls.
The independent candidate has overturned predictions, placing himself after the two major parties, conservative DISY and left-wing AKEL.
Exit polls from public broadcaster, CyBC, place him third with an estimated 15.7-18.3% of the vote. Similar results are echoed in the exit poll for Alpha TV.
Fidias, the son of a Greek Orthodox priest, has built a career on TikTok and YouTube, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers.
His English-language YouTube channel has gathered 2.6 million subscribers since he began posting in 2019. The young man from Meniko, a village in the Nicosia District, catapulted to global fame by embarking on a mission to hug Elon Musk.
Months ago, when announcing his intention to run for the European Parliament, he appeared in a video wearing three ties, a jacket, and shorts. He candidly admitted from the outset that he knew nothing about politics or the European Union but vowed to ask questions, read, and learn.
“I am 23 years old and I have never voted in my life, and I said to myself one night that if I never vote and I never take an interest, the same nerds are always going to be in power, and I said ‘enough!’” he commented.
However, in the lead-up to Sunday’s elections, Fidias, who served in the Cypriot army’s Underwater Demolition Command admitted that in the past, he used to back far-right ELAM.
On his decision to run as an independent he said: “I heard somewhere that if you are not satisfied with things around you and you want them to change, you have to be the change. Why did I choose to be independent? Because I can’t fit into moulds. Because I want you to know that I have no party interests to serve.”
Upon hearing the first exit polls’ results on Sunday night Fidias commented: “We have achieved a miracle”.
He touted his predicted election as “an important day, not only for Cyprus but possibly also for the entire world.”
Breaking down the data from the first exit polls, Panagiotou seems to have garnered an impressive 39.5% of the vote in the 18-24 age group, with a still-significant 27.5% in the 25-34 bracket, and 19% in the 35-44 age group.
While Panagiotou’s percentages started to dip in older age groups, he still managed 14% among voters aged 45-50.
The 24-year-old credited his victory to the power of social media. “This is maybe the first time a completely independent candidate has been elected, without having any connection with a political party, but with social media as his only weapon, and nothing else.”
He added that the election results should ring alarm bells to the political establishment. He urged traditional politicians to leave behind their ‘conflicts’ and remember they are serving the people and not their own interests.
Shortly after the exit polls, he posted a video on TikTok announcing he would hold “Cyprus’s largest-ever party” and asked his followers to pick the location.
@fidiaspanayiotou ♬ original sound – Fidias Panayiotou
(Pictures by George Christophorou/MATTPRESS)
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