[15][16] Due to the war in the Middle East, the number of illegal migrants in Cyprus skyrocketed, with more than 2,000 people arriving in the first three months of 2024, compared to just 78 in the same period the previous year.

Pelekanos expressed profound dissatisfaction and subsequently resigned from his position within the party leadership, citing a series of underlying events that had undermined his standing.

[39][40] Despite numerous challenges, including the candidacy of Marios Pelekanos with ELAM,[39] Eleni Theocharous with DIKO,[41][42] and Pantelis Poietis with DIPA,[43][44][45] as well as many corruption scandals from Anastasiades' administration[46][47][48][49][50][51] and widespread dissatisfaction with DISY's role as the main opposition in Christodoulides' government (with various DISY members in the current cabinet despite the party's stance as opposition),[52] the centre-right party managed to achieve another first-place finish, maintaining its two seats in the European Parliament.

[57][58] Despite these expectations, AKEL experienced its worst defeat in its history, receiving just 21.5% of the votes, only 2 percentage points ahead of independent candidate and YouTuber Fidias Panayiotou.

[67][68] The announcement of Marios Pelekanos' candidacy with ELAM, who had been serving as vice president of the centre-right DISY until a few weeks prior, created a political upheaval.

Pelekanos, who also held the position of government spokesperson in Anastasiades' administration from 2021 to 2023, was believed to have the potential to attract a considerable number of DISY voters to ELAM.

[69][70][71] The party did succeed in securing its first seat, winning 3 percentage points more than in 2019,[72][4] but the "Fidias Phenomenon" likely hindered its rising momentum, with the vote share of 11.2% being lower than what most opinion polls predicted.

[73][74] Despite finishing third in all previous European elections, the Democratic Party (DIKO) now appeared fourth in every opinion poll released, falling below the far-right ELAM.

[75] The party's candidates featured the veteran politician and paediatric surgeon Eleni Theocharous, who had served as an MEP from 2009 to 2019 initially with DISY and later with the newly established Solidarity Movement.

[41][42] The conservative politician, who was ranked 3 times as the second best MEP by the DEVE Committee, was widely considered a strong candidate to attract nationalist voters away from ELAM.

The well-established party, with tens of thousands of members,[84] received 10 percentage points less than the 24-year-old YouTuber Fidias Panayiotou, who ran as an independent candidate with no political experience.

She cited dissatisfaction with the party's stance on the Cyprus problem, its inability to produce concrete and comprehensive policy proposals, and the vindictive behaviour of its collective members.

Attalides also accused the party of diverging from the policies, principles, and values of the European Greens, promoting xenophobia, and failing to oppose large-scale developments that harm the environment.

[104] Efi Xanthou, a 2019 candidate for the European Parliament[105] and George Perdikes' opponent in the internal election after Charalambos Theopemptou's resignation,[103] left the party in May 2024, accusing it of making undemocratic decisions.

[106][107][108] On March 21, 2024, Fidias Panayiotou, a globally renowned Cypriot YouTuber, confirmed speculations that he was approached by the KOSP to be included in their list of six candidates for the European elections.

Drousiotis had garnered significant attention following the publication of a trilogy of books containing personal accounts and third-party documents uncovering extensive corruption scandals during the presidency of Nicos Anastasiades.

[116][117][118] His third publication, "Mafia State," instigated a criminal investigation against Anastasiades, prompting the involvement of international legal practitioner Gabrielle Louise McIntyre.

[1] Pantelis Poietis, formerly the Deputy Secretary of International Relations of the Democratic Rally (DISY), is now one of the six candidates nominated by DIPA for the European Elections.

[43][44][45] Fidias Panayiotou, a 24-year-old YouTuber with over 2.6 million subscribers,[122] turned down an offer to join the Ecologists' electoral list and instead announced his independent candidacy for this election.

[129][130][131][132] Fidias ran on an anti-partisan and anti-establishment platform, accusing establishment politicians of neglecting society's best interests and failing to understand critical modern developments such as AI and Bitcoin.

[138][27] Without spending any money on TV advertisements, billboards, or Google ads, he crafted his image as the primary anti-establishment candidate purely through daily, non-sponsored YouTube shorts.

[139][140][141] The unprecedented result of 19.4% was just 2 percentage points lower than the left-wing AKEL,[142] a party with nearly 100 years of history[143] that, along with DISY, has dominated the Cypriot political system since the country's independence.

[149] Δημοκρατικός Συναγερμός (ΔΗΣΥ) Demokratik Seferberlik Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού (ΑΚΕΛ) Emekçi Halkın İlerici Partisi Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα (ΔΗΚΟ) Demokratik Parti Εθνικό Λαϊκό Μέτωπο (ΕΛΑΜ) Ulusal Halk Cephesi Κίνημα Σοσιαλδημοκρατών (ΕΔΕΚ) EDEK Sosyalist Parti Δημοκρατική Παράταξη (ΔΗΠΑ) Demokratik Cephe Κίνημα Οικολόγων - Συνεργασία Πολιτών Ekolojistler Hareketi – Yurttaşlar İşbirliği Βολτ Κύπρος (ΒΟΛΤ) Volt Kıbrıs Κόμμα για τα Ζώα Κύπρου Hayvan Partisi Kıbrıs Ενεργοί πολίτες - Κίνημα Ενωμένων Κύπριων Κυνηγών Aktif Vatandaşlar – Kıbrıs Birleşmiş Avcılar Hareketi Κίνημα Εθνική Δράσις Kıyam Millî Hareketi Νίκη Kazanç