Popular YouTube sensation from Cyprus, Fidias Panayiotou has officially been elected as an independent MEP to the European Parliament.
According to BBC, the 24-year-old, self- described “professional mistake maker” 24-year-old has over 2.6 million subscribers and – despite having zero political experience – garnered the third-largest number of votes with 19.4%.
“It was a shock what happened, a miracle,” said Panayiotou.
“The parties should take it as a warning that they must modernise and listen to the people.”
Panayiotou celebrated his win on Sunday with a gathering at Eleftheria Square in Cyprus’ capital of Nicosia, where he said: “We are writing history. Not just in Cyprus, but internationally.”
It was back in January that Panayiotou declared he would run in the polls, later submitting his candidacy in April.
On Cypriot TV, Alpha Cyprus Panayiotou admitted that he had never voted, knew little about politics and the EU, yet that he could no longer stand the continued rule of “nerds” in Brussels, as reported by BBC.
Panayiotou is said to have won 40% of the votes from the 18-24 age group and 28% of votes from the 25-34 group, coming in third overall behind the conservative DISY (25%).
Source: BBC
