Winners and losers

 

SUNDAY’S elections saw 18 new candidates winning seats in the 56-member parliament, as some prominent names fell by the wayside.

Perhaps the biggest shockers concerned DISY parliamentary representative Christos Pourgourides who lost his seat in Limassol as well as that of AKEL MP and head of left-wing trade union PEO Pambis Kyritsis.

Another notable loser is DIKO MP Nicos Kleanthous who had also done a stint as party leader in the past.

EDEK’s Marinos Sizopoulos battled it out and lost to the popular former communications minister Nicos Nicolaides while EVROKO’s Rikkos Erotocritou will stay out of the new parliament after his party lost a seat.

Among the new faces, which make up a third of the total, are television presenter Irini Charalambidou who won a seat with AKEL in Nicosia at the expense of Panicos Hambas, a noteworthy and respected MP.

Private television station Antenna reporter Efthimios Diplaros continued his rapid rise in politics – after his election as municipal councillor in 2006 – recording a convincing victory with DISY in Limassol. In fact, Diplaros was in second place in the number of votes received, behind DISY chief Nicos Anastasiades.

Another well known new face is Apollon FC coach Andreas Michaelides who won a seat in Limassol with DISY.

Notable new entries also include economists Marios Mavrides, who run with DISY, and AKEL’s Pambos Papageorgiou.

Developer Christakis Giovannis is another new face, winning a seat with AKEL.

Punters were also surprised to see two prominent members of DIKO, Giorgos Kolokasides and Kyriacos Kenevesos, fail to win a seat.

It will be yet again another male-dominated parliament with just six women.

Three will sit on the AKEL benches with DISY, DIKO, and EDEK having one female legislator each.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.