Candidates have formally entered the final stretch ahead of Cyprus’ May 24 parliamentary elections, which will determine the new composition of the House of Representatives for the 13th parliamentary term.
With two and a half weeks to go, a record‑breaking 753 candidates submitted their papers across the six electoral districts, the highest number ever recorded in a Cypriot parliamentary race.
Election Commissioner Elikkos Elia said the previous record was set in 2021. “Back then we had 15 party formations. Now we have 19, and 102 more candidates,” he said.
Based on the numbers, only about 1 in 14 candidates — roughly 7% — will win a seat after the vote.
By district, the submissions were:
- Nicosia: 261 candidates from 18 party lists and 4 independents
- Limassol: 167 candidates from 17 party lists and 3 independents
- Famagusta: 141 candidates from 18 party lists
- Larnaca: 76 candidates from 16 party lists
- Paphos: 67 candidates from 16 party lists and 2 independents
- Kyrenia: 41 candidates from 17 party lists
In total, 19 registered political parties officially entered the race, some with full slates matching the number of seats allocated to each district, others with partial lists.
Elia said 529 of the candidacies — figure incomplete in the source text — correspond to party‑list submissions, with the remainder coming from independents.