MEP Fidias Panayiotou has been elected the first president of the Direct Democracy party in Cyprus following internal elections held online between 19 and 21 March. Panayiotou secured 56.79% of the vote, defeating six other candidates who were all parliamentary candidates of the party. Shortly after the announcement, he appointed Diana Constantinides as vice-president.
Appointment of vice-president
Following the announcement of the election results, Fidias Panayiotou exercised powers granted under the party’s statute to appoint members of the leadership.
He appointed Diana Constantinides as vice-president of Direct Democracy. Panayiotou also stated that in the coming days he will decide, in consultation with Constantinides, who will be appointed to the positions of party secretary and treasurer.
Priorities after the election
After his election, Panayiotou stated that the first priority of the party leadership will be the registration of citizens on the electoral rolls.
He also said that the party’s policy positions in various sectors will be published in the coming days.
Electoral process
The leadership election was conducted electronically through the AGORA application between 19 and 21 March. The same system had previously been used to select the party’s 56 candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Seven candidates contested the presidency, all of whom are parliamentary candidates of Direct Democracy.
Candidates and results
The candidates who ran for the presidency, listed alphabetically, were:
- Tasos Anastasiou (Famagusta candidate)
- Andreas Varosiotis (Famagusta candidate)
- Minas Giorkas (Nicosia candidate)
- Diana Constantinides (Famagusta candidate)
- Fidias Panayiotou (Nicosia candidate)
- Andreas Pigkas (Nicosia candidate)
- Stefanos Christodoulou (Larnaca candidate)
The final results were:
- Fidias Panayiotou – 4,006 votes (56.79%)
- Diana Constantinides – 1,923 votes (27.26%)
- Minas Giorkas – 459 votes (6.59%)
- Andreas Varosiotis – 259 votes (3.6%)
- Andreas Pigkas – 176 votes (2.50%)
- Stefanos Christodoulou – 120 votes (1.70%)
- Tasos Anastasiou – 105 votes (1.49%)