Former European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou criticized social media influencer Fidias Panayiotou for opting not to assume his newly elected parliament seat, labeling the decision as dishonest towards his voters. Panayiotou, who had a significant impact in the 2024 European Parliament elections, chose to remain a European MP instead. The seat he vacated will now be filled by neurophysiologist Yiannis Laouris. Despite finishing sixth in the recent elections, Panayiotou's party, Direct Democracy Cyprus, managed to secure four seats and 20,159 votes, equating to 5.4% of the total.