Record election campaign: 753 nominations submitted for parliamentary elections

The 2026 parliamentary elections in Cyprus promise to be the largest in history, as evidenced by the record number of applications submitted. According to Chief Electoral Officer Elikkos Elias, 753 candidates and 19 party coalitions have been registered, significantly exceeding the figures from previous elections. Voting is scheduled for May 24, and it is already clear that political competition will be extremely high.

Out of the total number of candidates, 744 represent parties, and 9 are running as independents. Compared to the 2021 elections, the number of candidates increased by 102, and the number of parties grew from 15 to 19. The gender distribution remains uneven: 70.3% of candidates are men (529 people), while women are represented by 224 candidates, accounting for 29.7%.

Special attention is given to the election of representatives of religious groups. Two candidates are registered in the Maronite community — Mario Mavrides and Petros Nakouzis, which implies a vote. At the same time, the Armenian and Latin communities are represented by one candidate each — Vartkes Mahdessian and Antonella Lidia Mantovani, respectively, and in the absence of objections, they will be elected unopposed.

The election commission also reported that the preliminary check of candidates' compliance with the requirements was completed without violations. The review concerned 10–12 nominations, and all of them were cleared for participation. Objections may be raised in the near future; however, authorities state they are ready to respond promptly to any legal issues, cooperating with the police and the legal service.