DISY has won Cyprus’s 2026 parliamentary elections with 27.1% of the vote, according to final results released by the Ministry of Interior, as far-right ELAM nearly doubled its share of the vote and two newcomer parties entered parliament for the first time.
Some 380,851 people cast ballots on Sunday, representing 66.91% of the 569,182 registered voters, up from 63.9% in the 2021 parliamentary elections. Of the votes cast, 372,063 were valid, with 6,618 invalid and 2,170 blank.
AKEL came second with 23.9% and 15 seats, followed by ELAM on 10.9% and DIKO on 10%, each winning eight seats. DISY’s 27.1% translated into 17 seats in the new House of Representatives. ALMA, a newly formed movement that campaigned on accountability and political reform, secured 5.8% and four seats, entering parliament for the first time. Direct Democracy Cyprus, founded by social media influencer and MEP Fidias Panayiotou, took 5.4% and four seats, marking another newcomer breakthrough.
ELAM’s result represented a sharp rise from the 6.8% it recorded in 2021, making it the third-largest party in the new parliament. The party, which is an offshoot of Greece’s banned Golden Dawn movement, campaigned against migration and holds a hard line on the Cyprus problem, advocating the closure of checkpoints linking the two sides of the ethnically divided island across the United Nations-controlled buffer zone.
Four parties failed to cross the 3.6% threshold required for parliamentary representation. EDEK took 3.3%, the Hunters’ Party 3.2%, and DIPA and Volt each 3.1%. Their elimination from parliament marked a significant shift in Cyprus’s political landscape, with three of the four — EDEK, DIPA and DIKO — having backed President Nikos Christodoulides in the 2023 presidential election.
The result leaves Christodoulides, who must seek re-election in 2028, in a delicate position. Reuters quoted analyst Hubert Faustmann as saying the president would face a difficult balancing act to muster parliamentary support. “If he doesn’t get the support of DISY, he necessarily needs ELAM support, formally or informally, for any chance of re-election,” Faustmann said.
EDEK leader Nikos Anastasiou resigned as party president shortly after the results were announced, saying he was taking his share of responsibility for the party’s failure to enter parliament. “The people have spoken,” he said in a statement. “The result does not please us and unfortunately is unjust to both EDEK and Cyprus itself.” He said he had done everything humanly possible to unite the party since taking the helm but that some colleagues had chosen to stay away despite his efforts.
ALMA, which has ruled out any cooperation with ELAM in parliament, was among the clearest winners of the night alongside Direct Democracy Cyprus. Panayiotou, a 26-year-old YouTuber and TikToker who became the first independent MEP in Cyprus’s history when he won a European Parliament seat in 2024 with 19.4% of the vote, founded Direct Democracy Cyprus in October 2025. He now faces a decision on whether to remain in the European Parliament or take up his seat in the House of Representatives.
The campaign was dominated by socio-economic concerns, in particular housing costs and the rising cost of living, as well as immigration and the Cyprus problem. Turnout of 66.91% was the highest recorded in a Cypriot parliamentary election in recent years, surpassing the 63.9% recorded in 2021.
The official ceremony announcing the elected members is due to take place on Monday.
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