MEP Fidias Panayiotou will decide whether he will run for parliament with Direct Democracy in the upcoming elections and announce his decision in the coming days, according to sources.
He will also announce his intentions on whether he will choose to remain in the Cyprus parliament if elected or continue in the European Parliament and renounce his seat in favour of another Direct Democracy MP from the same district, sources said.
Panayiotou plans to hold internal party elections through the Direct Democracy app platform, which he estimates will have around 20,000 members participate, according to sources. He reportedly told colleagues in Strasbourg: “That many voted for Annita [Demetriou] as DISY president. Imagine where Direct Democracy can reach.”
Many in the party aspire to achieve a much higher percentage than polls estimate and become the first or second party, sources said.
Around 200 people have expressed interest in running for parliament on the platform, according to sources. From these, 56 will be selected according to the positions in each district. Voting on the platform will run from 3 to 5 March for 72 hours and results will be announced after the process is completed and checks are conducted on those selected to verify they meet legal criteria.
The next stage will be selecting the Direct Democracy president, with Panayiotou saying he will contest the party presidency on equal terms with all those who express interest in the position. Only those selected for a place on the ballot will be eligible to run for president, meaning only one of the 56 candidates. All platform users will have voting rights.
The application to register Direct Democracy as a party is pending before the Interior Ministry. Some suggestions have been made regarding the party’s statute and an official response on registering Direct Democracy in the political parties register is expected soon.
A competition for the party emblem is underway, as Panayiotou announced on social media through a video. The proposals submitted will be put to a vote for members to decide which to adopt as the party emblem.
Regarding reports about an investigation against him into alleged misappropriation of funds, Panayiotou told philenews he had not received such notification and reserved the right to respond in detail through a video, refusing to answer further questions. He attended for a few minutes the cocktail party organised at the European Parliament by the Cypriot presidency, hosted by Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna.
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