Social media influencer Fidias Panayiotou on Sunday night said he remains undecided over whether he will continue to sit as a member of the European Parliament or take a seat in Cyprus’ national parliament, after having won a seat in the latter chamber at the day’s election.

“I still have some time to think about it, to consult with my team, together with my family, and we will decide,” he said.

His party, Direct Democracy Cyprus, finished sixth at the parliamentary election, its first electoral test after having been formed last year, and of this result, he said that “we … want to say that now, the life of Direct Democracy begins, that now, Direct Democracy has officially been born”.

“We were in our mother’s womb, and we must prove our worth to the rest of the Cypriot people little by little to gain their trust,” he said.

Asked what his party will provide the country going forward, he promised “a lot of effort, to try to improve Cyprus and change Cyprus for the better”.

He also passed comment on the better-than-expected results achieved by Cyprus’ traditional “big three” political parties, Disy, Akel, and Dipa, saying that he was “a little surprised”, before offering all three parties his congratulations and offering to “work together” with them when the new parliament convenes.

Of his own party’s result, he said that “we did not expect a high percentage”, and that instead, “our goal was to do what we could, 100 per cent, and to give 100 per cent of the effort we could”.

“Now, we are in parliament, and we will continue to give 100 per cent of the effort we can. We are not dissatisfied with the percentage [we achieved]. We are pleased that we gave as much effort as we could,” he said.

Looking ahead, he said that people “can expect many different things compared to what the usual parties do”, and that Direct Democracy Cyprus will offer “different ways of handling things, and for the better”.

“We will try to innovate in politics, because politics has been the same for 50 years. It has not changed much. We will try to upgrade it from inside parliament,” he said.