Discussion over Volt’s electoral defeat and the party’s future direction began on Wednesday following meetings of its collective bodies, with former MP Alexandra Attalides saying the new House is expected to function with “a more conservative agenda”.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Attalides said the party’s message “clearly did not get through” despite what she characterised as strong support from sections of the electorate.

Volt failed to get a seat in the House and received 3.1 per cent of the vote.

“There was a lot of pressure in recent days from the mechanisms of the major parties and unfortunately, because we are a new party, we did not have the mechanisms to react,” she said.

Attalides said discussions had already begun within the party’s leadership and would continue with candidates before decisions are announced on Volt’s next steps.

She added that party members believe Volt “must find the strength, the stamina, the means to continue to make its voice heard”.

The former MP said she believed that political priorities are shifting.

“I believe that legislation that was achieved with great effort will now remain in the drawers for another five years,” she said.

She also expressed concern over what she described as a shift to the right in political discourse.

“The agenda is becoming more conservative,” Attalides said. “It is a great shame that a European country is choosing to give in to the fear that Elam has cultivated so well.”

Moreover, she expressed her regret that parties traditionally regarded as progressive were being “dragged further and further to the right”.

At a post-election gathering, Volt co-president Panos Loizou Parras said the party “accepts the defeat we have suffered” and thanked supporters who backed Volt’s campaign.

“Volt submitted a different political proposal, a proposal that concerns more accountability, more transparency, a state that operates with stable institutional control, an unwavering European path for the country,” he said.

Co-president Andromache Sophocleous said the party had spent the last two and a half years building and presenting its political vision to voters.

“We feel proud of everything we have accomplished,” she said. “But, as far as the political stakes are concerned, yes, we have been defeated and the result must be respected.”

Attalides also insisted that Volt’s positions on democracy, reunification and human rights would continue to be represented publicly despite the election result.

“The voice in favour of the solution and reunification of Cyprus cannot be silenced,” she insisted, while pledging to continue defending “democracy and human rights” outside parliament.