He will have to cater to them now
In Cyprus's parliamentary elections, the far-right Elam party doubled its seats to eight, displacing centrist rivals and emerging as a potential kingmaker in a legislature long shaped by traditional power blocs. The result reflects a broader European pattern in which hardline positions on immigration and national identity find growing electoral purchase, even as the most disruptive anti-systemic challengers fell short of predictions. For an island already divided by history and ethnicity, the shift raises quiet but consequential questions about which alliances will define its politics — and its place within Europe — in the years ahead.
- Elam, a party rooted in Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn movement, nearly doubled its vote share to 10.9% and claimed eight parliamentary seats, becoming Cyprus's third-largest political force.
- Mainstream parties braced for collapse but held firm — Disy and Akel lost no seats — while newly formed anti-corruption and social media-driven parties made only modest inroads.
- President Christodoulides now faces a precarious path to a 2028 second term: if his former party Disy withholds support, Elam's eight seats could become the decisive factor in his political survival.
- EU leaders are alarmed — EPP chief Manfred Weber reportedly warned Christodoulides that continued closeness to Elam would make him politically untenable within the European centre-right.
- Elam's founders never renounced Golden Dawn's ideology, yet analysts note the party has avoided political violence, leaving it in an ambiguous space between ideological extremism and institutional respectability.
Cyprus held parliamentary elections on Sunday, and the clearest winner was not one of the island's traditional power brokers. Elam — the far-right Greek National People's Front, born from hardliners who split from Greece's now-defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn movement — captured 10.9 percent of the vote and doubled its seats from four to eight, displacing the centrist Democratic party as parliament's third-largest force. The party has built its platform on fierce opposition to Turkish interests, calls to seal the checkpoints dividing the ethnically split island, and hardline immigration policies.
The result defied pre-election expectations in one important respect: establishment parties were widely predicted to hemorrhage support to newly formed anti-systemic movements. Two such groups did enter parliament for the first time — anti-corruption outfit Alma and Direct Democracy Cyprus, led by MEP and former YouTuber Fidias Panayiotou — but the mainstream right and left held their ground more firmly than forecast. Disy secured 27.2 percent and Akel 23.8 percent, with neither losing a single seat.
Elam's rise carries the most consequential implications. Electoral analysts describe the party as the contest's sole clear winner, having achieved its stated goal of doubling its seats and positioning itself as a potential kingmaker in parliamentary votes. That leverage could prove decisive in the 2028 presidential race: President Nikos Christodoulides, who broke from Disy to run as an independent in 2023, may find his path to re-election running through Elam if his former party declines to back him.
The prospect has drawn alarm from European capitals. EPP leader Manfred Weber reportedly warned Christodoulides that continued closeness to Elam would make it impossible for him to remain accepted within the European centre-right. Christodoulides — whose country currently holds the EU presidency — has neither publicly addressed the warning nor ruled out cooperation with the party, leaving the door conspicuously open.
Elam presents a complicated picture. Unlike Golden Dawn, it has not been associated with political violence, and one political scientist described it as resembling "xenophobic, rightwing parties elsewhere" — adding, with pointed ambiguity, that they are "kindergarten fascists." Yet its founders have never renounced Golden Dawn's racist ideology. With eight seats now in hand, Elam has been transformed from a marginal force into a potential arbiter of Cyprus's political future.
Cyprus held parliamentary elections on Sunday, and the clearest winner was not one of the island's traditional power brokers. Elam, a far-right party with roots in Greece's defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn movement, doubled its parliamentary representation, capturing 10.9 percent of the vote and claiming eight of the legislature's 56 seats. The party, formally known as the Greek National People's Front, has built its platform on fierce opposition to Turkish interests, calls to seal the checkpoints that divide the ethnically split island, and hardline immigration policies. In doing so, it displaced the centrist Democratic party from its decades-long position as parliament's third-largest force.
The result amounts to a seismic shift in Cypriot politics, though perhaps not in the way many analysts had predicted. Ahead of the election, establishment parties were widely expected to hemorrhage support to newly formed anti-systemic movements—groups of anti-corruption campaigners and social media figures channeling public frustration with traditional politics and scandal-tainted elites. Two such parties did enter parliament for the first time: Alma, an anti-corruption outfit, and Direct Democracy Cyprus, led by MEP and former YouTuber Fidias Panayiotou. Yet the mainstream right and left held their ground more firmly than forecasts suggested. The rightwing Disy party secured 27.2 percent of the vote, while the communist Akel party took 23.8 percent, with neither losing a single seat. Disy's showing was widely read as a victory, positioning it as the frontrunner and emboldening it to field its own candidate in the 2028 presidential race.
But Elam's ascent carries the most consequential implications. The party emerged as what electoral experts call the sole winner of the contest, having achieved its explicit strategic objective of doubling its seats and becoming a potential kingmaker in parliamentary votes. Christoforos Christoforou, Cyprus's preeminent electoral analyst, told the Guardian that Elam now possesses "an increased say in passing legislation." This newfound leverage could reshape the island's political calculus, particularly as President Nikos Christodoulides contemplates a second term in 2028. Christodoulides, a former Disy stalwart who broke ranks to run as an independent in 2023, had hoped for his old party's backing in his next campaign. But if Disy declines to support him, his path to re-election may depend on Elam's cooperation—a prospect that has already drawn alarm from European capitals.
Christodoulides has long faced accusations of courting Elam's favor. His government has appointed ministers with sympathetic views to the party's positions and has cultivated a reputation for strict immigration enforcement. Last month, Manfred Weber, who leads the centre-right European People's Party in the European Parliament, reportedly warned the Cypriot president against deepening ties with the extremists. According to the Greek-language newspaper Politis, Weber cautioned that Christodoulides would find it "impossible" to remain accepted within the European centre-right if Elam continued to be viewed as his "closest interlocutor." Christodoulides, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, has neither publicly addressed this warning nor explicitly denied the possibility of cooperating with Elam.
Elam itself presents a more complicated picture than its ideological ancestry might suggest. The party was formed by hardliners who split from Golden Dawn after that organization's leadership faced lengthy prison sentences for operating a criminal enterprise that terrorized Greek streets. Unlike Golden Dawn, Elam has not been associated with political violence. Hubert Faustmann, a political scientist at the University of Nicosia, characterized the party's approach as resembling "xenophobic, rightwing parties elsewhere" but noted it lacks the violent apparatus of comparable European movements. "They're kindergarten fascists," he said, a formulation that captures both the ideological continuity and the operational restraint. Yet the party's founders have never renounced Golden Dawn's racist ideology, and its expansion in Cyprus signals a broader appetite among voters for hardline positions on immigration and Turkish relations.
What happens next depends partly on Christodoulides' calculations. The president has neither rejected nor openly embraced the idea of working with Elam, leaving the door conspicuously open. Christoforou suggested that Christodoulides' image-conscious political style may not preclude such collaboration, particularly on issues like migration where he has already shown willingness to defy what he might regard as political correctness. If Disy withholds support for his 2028 bid, Elam's eight seats could prove decisive. The party's doubled strength has fundamentally altered the arithmetic of Cypriot politics, transforming it from a marginal force into a potential arbiter of the presidency itself.
Notable Quotes
Elam is the sole winner of Sunday's election, with a clear victory that gives it an increased say in passing legislation— Christoforos Christoforou, electoral analyst
If Disy doesn't support Christodoulides' candidacy, his only chance for re-election is Elam. He will have to cater to them.— Hubert Faustmann, political scientist at University of Nicosia
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a far-right party doubling its seats in a small EU country matter beyond Cyprus itself?
Because it signals something about how immigration and national identity politics are reshaping European democracies. Cyprus isn't unique—this pattern is repeating across the continent. But Cyprus matters because the president might actually need Elam's votes to govern, which means the party moves from the margins into the machinery of power.
The article mentions that Elam was inspired by Golden Dawn but hasn't embraced its violence. Is that distinction meaningful?
It's meaningful in a practical sense—a party that operates within legal bounds is harder to ban or marginalize. But ideologically, they're carrying forward the same worldview. The violence was a tactic, not the core. What matters is that voters are choosing this ideology, and now it has leverage.
What's the actual constraint on Christodoulides working with Elam?
Officially, it's the European People's Party warning him he'll be cast out of the centre-right club. But that's a soft constraint. The real question is whether he cares more about EU acceptance or about winning re-election. If Disy abandons him, Elam becomes his only path forward.
So the mainstream parties didn't collapse as predicted?
No. Disy and Akel both held their ground, which surprised analysts. The anti-systemic parties did break through, but they didn't cannibalize the establishment. What actually happened is the far-right ate the centre's lunch—Elam displaced the centrist Democratic party. That's the real story.
Is there any scenario where Elam doesn't become central to 2028?
If Disy backs Christodoulides, yes. Then Elam stays powerful but not kingmaker. But Disy has no incentive to do that now—they just won the election and want their own candidate. So the math points toward Elam mattering.