The European elections in Cyprus are turned upside down by the candidacy of a 24-year-old TikToker, who decided to contest one of the 6 seats in the new European Parliament.
The polls of the last few days show him outperforming many of the parties, even leaving behind Vassos Lyssarides’ historic party, the EDEK.
Phidias Panagiotou, son of a priest, with no education and no academic pedigree, is making a career on TikTok and Youtube with videos of his own inspiration, achieving great success.
@fidiaspanayiotouΔημοσκόπηση του OMEGA
Almost the same popularity as the Democratic Party in the polls
A few months ago, announcing his intention to seek election to the European Parliament, he appeared in a video wearing three ties, a jacket… and shorts.
He made it clear from the start that he knows nothing about politics and nothing about the European Union, but in a few months he will ask, read and learn.
The latest poll by RAI on behalf of Alpha Cyprus showed that Phidias Panagiotou secures (by extrapolation) 8.7%, just half a point away from the DI.KO founded by Spyros Kyprianou and led by Tassos Papadopoulos.
If the polls are confirmed, there is a possibility of his election, either by winning over DIKO or by losing one of the two seats traditionally secured by AKEL.
Vanity Fair and Conde Nast Traveller recommend Ios island for the summer
Even if he is not elected, he leaves behind four parliamentary parties (Volt, EDEK, DIKO, Ecologies) who are running for election with full ballots of six candidates.
According to the same poll, the Democratic Rally maintains its lead with 27.3%, followed by AKEL with 25.3%. ELAM (Golden Dawn of Cyprus) is in third place with 12.5%, followed by DIKO with 9.3%.
The difference between DI.KO and Phidias Panagiotou falls within the limit of statistical error.