A new survey on the upcoming 2026 parliamentary elections, this time conducted by SIGMA TV, reveals that eight months before Cypriots head to the polls, the political landscape remains fluid. Traditional parties, both large and small, continue to lose support, while the populist and self-styled “anti-system” movements ELAM and ALMA are gaining ground with results well beyond expectations.
It is still too early to say whether this trend will hold on election day, as voter behaviour in polls often differs from their actual choices when facing the ballot box. Yet, if the pattern is confirmed, it would overturn the political balance and transform the new House of Representatives, with as much as 20 or even 30 percent of seats potentially going to populists, opportunists, extremists and politically immature or irresponsible figures.
The parliament has not exactly been at its best in recent decades, and populism is hardly a new phenomenon. Still, despite their flaws, the so-called traditional parties have often managed to act responsibly on crucial national issues and uphold a minimum sense of institutional stability.
A new parliament with weakened representation for DISY, AKEL and DIKO, and a strengthened presence of ELAM and other populist actors, would almost inevitably face paralysis, inefficiency and deep political dysfunction, with unpredictable consequences for the country.
There is no doubt that the established parties bear much of the blame for reaching this point. They isolated themselves from society, failed to modernize and renew their structures, and through their policies and attitudes alienated citizens, contributing to the degeneration of public life.
But the answer is not to punish them by opening the door to chaos. Changing what disappointed us for something that could destroy us is no solution at all. If we make that choice, it is not those parties we will punish but ourselves.
The last European elections, which saw the overwhelming victory of a politically inexperienced young slogan-maker as a protest vote against the system, should serve as a warning. Let us not repeat the same mistake, this time with far more painful consequences.