The electoral procedures of AKEL closed early and without reactions, and today in Larnaca, the official presentation of the party’s six candidates for the European Parliament will take place.
In any case, the messages coming from AKEL indicate that the bar should not be set too high, risking not being able to surpass it.
In this context, the Left party’s main goal in this electoral contest is to maintain percentages compared to the previous European elections and to increase percentages compared to the last parliamentary elections. This is because AKEL wants to maintain the two seats it has held in the European Parliament since 2004.
With the fluidity prevailing in the political scene, it is not excluded that with the percentages AKEL received in the last parliamentary elections, it might risk losing its second seat.
Therefore, the interpretation from AKEL’s side is that the party should secure a percentage of 25% and above at the polls to ensure that the two seats are guaranteed.
The electoral threshold for the election of an MEP is 16.33%, which means that the larger the remainder of votes transferred in the second allocation, the greater the chances of securing the second seat.
The discussion surrounding the issue of the first place is that if achieving the first place comes with a loss of percentages, it will not matter beyond a communicative perspective.
Due to the problems facing DISY, it is not excluded that the first place might be achieved.
However, an increase in percentages compared to the parliamentary elections would have substantive significance and is a big challenge.
During today’s event where the party’s six MEPs will be presented, Stefanos Stefanou will send messages regarding the political stance of AKEL in the pre-election period.
George Georgiou, Niyazi Kizilyurek, Anna Theologou, Stavros Kalopsidiotis, Andros Karagiannis, and Melani Steliou form the six who will fight the battle.
The party’s relations with Kizilyurek have been tested, and attempts have been made to find another candidate from the Turkish Cypriot community, but this was not successful.
Another weakness is the lack of a candidate from the Limassol district, a district where the Left party has seen losses in recent years. On the contrary, it has three candidates from the Famagusta district (Karagiannis, Kalopsidiotis, and Theologou).
There is talk in AKEL circles regarding Anna Theologou’s presence on the ballot due to her positions on the Cyprus issue and her career path so far.
She started with Solidarity, moved to the Citizens’ Alliance, and in the last parliamentary elections ran with her own party.
The Left party wants to project itself as the alternative assertive voice in Europe. It will highlight the issues of farmers, taking advantage of recent pan-European mobilizations and the need to support their demands. It will criticize the EU’s dependence on the USA and offer a different stance from Brussels on Ukraine and Gaza.
