Seventeen of Cyprus’s 56 newly elected MPs have some connection to the legal profession, almost one in three, up from roughly one in five in the 2021 parliament.
The rise continues a long-standing pattern of lawyers gravitating towards parliamentary seats. An analysis of MPs’ biographies puts the figure at 30.36%. The source notes that legal knowledge can be an advantage in parliament, where drafting and debating legislation requires familiarity with how laws and the constitution operate, though it also observes that the House has repeatedly made procedural errors and passed legislation later found to be unconstitutional despite the legal experience of many of its members.
The 17 MPs with legal backgrounds break down by party as follows. DISY: Giorgos Pamborides, Fotini Tsiridou, Michalis Fellas, Nikos Georgiou, Nicoletta Konstantinou, and Demos Georgiades. AKEL: Aristos Damianou, Argentoula Ioannou, Giorgos Koukoumas, and Andreas Pashourtidis. DIKO: Nikolaos Papadopoulos, Christiana Erotokritou, Panikos Leonidou, and Zacharias Koulias. Direct Democracy Cyprus: Diana Lousia Constantinide. ALMA: Michalis Paraskevas. ELAM: Linos Ioannis Hadjigeorgiou holds a law degree.
Six MPs come from media, communications, and marketing. AKEL’s Konstantinos Konstantinou is a journalist, chief editor, and presenter; Nikos Kettieros also represents AKEL. ALMA’s Irene Charalambides had a long career in journalism before entering politics. ADK’s Demetris Souglis, DIKO’s Adamos Aspris, whose background spans journalism, communications, and public relations, and DISY’s Charalambos Pazaros, who is connected to the marketing sector, complete the group.
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